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<p><b>PLIVA and The Althexis Company Announce a Collaboration on the Structure-Based 
  Drug Design of Novel Broad Spectrum Antibiotics</b></p>
<p>Zagreb, 8th February 1999</p>
<p>PLIVA d.d., Zagreb, Croatia and The Althexis Company, Inc., Boston, MA., USA, 
  today announced that they have entered into a collaboration to develop and commercialise 
  novel broad spectrum antibiotics using structure-based drug design ("SBDD") 
  technologies. PLIVA support for the Althexis program may total $14.4 million 
  over three years in research funding and milestone payments. Additional future 
  revenues to Althexis and PLIVA may result from certain exclusive marketing rights 
  each retains under the collaboration agreement.</p>
<p>Under terms of the agreement, PLIVA receives worldwide rights to market any 
  drugs which result from two specified research projects defined in the agreement, 
  except for the countries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, where Althexis reserves 
  those rights. The partners will each retain non-exclusive rights in China.</p>
<p>Althexis and PLIVA will apply their expertise in the areas of structural biology, 
  biophysics, biochemistry and chemistry, and in chemistry, microbiology and drug 
  development, respectively, to two antibacterial targets. The companies will 
  pool and share their data, including pre-clinical and clinical results, in support 
  of activities in their respective geographical territories.</p>
<p>"We are thrilled to have PLIVA as a partner in our structure-based antibiotics 
  design program", stated Manuel Navia, Ph.D., a co-founder and President of The 
  Althexis Company. "The last twenty years of antimicrobial research have seen 
  a decline in the introduction of new antibacterials and a disturbing increase 
  in the resistance to existing antibiotics. There is a pressing need to broaden 
  the arsenal of antibacterial agents beyond those currently in use. Our collaboration 
  agreement with PLIVA gives Althexis the financial and scientific support it 
  needs to move forward against its initial bacterial targets" concluded Dr. Navia.</p>
<p>"Our two organisations fit together very well", said Patrick Connelly, Ph.D., 
  a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Althexis. "Our expertise in SBDD 
  nicely complements the vigorous program of drug discovery and development that 
  already thrives at PLIVA. The excitement generated during our initial scientific 
  discussions was palpable. Althexis has put together an impressive group of pharmaceutical 
  industry veterans, as well as University and industry based joint ventures, 
  to conduct its research projects. Now we can proceed expeditiously to begin 
  work on the PLIVA-sponsored projects that we are so optimistic about" concluded 
  Dr. Connelly.</p>
<p>"PLIVA has a long and distinguished history of truly innovative research, dating 
  back to the founding of the PLIVA Research Institute by Vladimir Prelog, 1975 
  Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. PLIVA's achievements include the discovery, development, 
  and manufacture of azithromycin, the outstanding macrolide antibiotic marketed 
  by Pfizer and PLIVA. We are confident that this partnership can meet the very 
  ambitious development and commercialisation goals we have set and, ultimately, 
  contribute to PLIVA's pipeline of novel anti-infective agents", Zeljko Covic, 
  CEO of PLIVA stated.</p>
<p>"We are extremely pleased to collaborate with The Althexis Company. PLIVA believes 
  in the power of SBDD, and Althexis' expertise in this area provides us with 
  a terrific complement to the antibiotics discovery program at PLIVA. This is 
  a powerful collaboration and represents a unique opportunity for PLIVA to explore 
  a state-of-the-art approach to making drugs" stated Radan Spaventi, M.D., Director 
  of the Research Institute at PLIVA.</p>
<p>PLIVA is the biggest pharmaceutical company in the area of Central and Eastern 
  Europe and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1996. In 1997, 
  PLIVA acquired a majority stake in one of the biggest Polish pharmaceutical 
  companies, today known as "PLIVA Krakow". PLIVA's current operations consist 
  of research, the development, manufacture, and sale of pharmaceutical, animal 
  health and veterinary, food, and cosmetics products. It is a company with a 
  strong focus on the research and development of new chemical entities. PLIVA's 
  biggest success to date has been the invention, development, and production 
  of azithromycin, which was licensed to Pfizer for worldwide marketing except 
  in countries where PLIVA has retained rights. Azithromycin (Zithromax, Sumamed) 
  posted sales of $1 billion (US) in 1998. Several joint ventures with international 
  pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as various scientific organisations, 
  together with a significant reshaping of its internal research activities support 
  PLIVA's commercial and strategic goals of becoming an internationally recognised 
  research-driven pharmaceuticals company.</p>
<p>The Althexis Company, based in Boston, was founded in 1998 by Drs. Manuel Navia 
  and Patrick Connelly, Paul J. Mass of Mass Ventures LLC (Atlanta, GA) and Michael 
  Dailey of Dailey & Partners (Southport, CT). The Althexis Company is dedicated 
  to discovering novel small molecule drugs to treat diseases in humans. Althexis 
  is committed to the practice of SBDD, a revolutionary approach to drug discovery 
  and development that allows a smaller, more modestly capitalised company to 
  compete effectively with even the largest players in the pharmaceutical industry. 
  The scientific founders of Althexis have been pioneers in the establishment 
  and evolution of SBDD as a scientific and commercial success.</p>
1	<p><b>PLIVA and The Althexis Company Announce a Collaboration on the Structure-Based
2	Drug Design of Novel Broad Spectrum Antibiotics</b></p>
3	<p>Zagreb, 8th February 1999</p>
4	<p>PLIVA d.d., Zagreb, Croatia and The Althexis Company, Inc., Boston, MA., USA,
5	today announced that they have entered into a collaboration to develop and commercialise
6	novel broad spectrum antibiotics using structure-based drug design ("SBDD")
7	technologies. PLIVA support for the Althexis program may total $14.4 million
8	over three years in research funding and milestone payments. Additional future
9	revenues to Althexis and PLIVA may result from certain exclusive marketing rights
10	each retains under the collaboration agreement.</p>
11	<p>Under terms of the agreement, PLIVA receives worldwide rights to market any
12	drugs which result from two specified research projects defined in the agreement,
13	except for the countries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, where Althexis reserves
14	those rights. The partners will each retain non-exclusive rights in China.</p>
15	<p>Althexis and PLIVA will apply their expertise in the areas of structural biology,
16	biophysics, biochemistry and chemistry, and in chemistry, microbiology and drug
17	development, respectively, to two antibacterial targets. The companies will
18	pool and share their data, including pre-clinical and clinical results, in support
19	of activities in their respective geographical territories.</p>
20	<p>"We are thrilled to have PLIVA as a partner in our structure-based antibiotics
21	design program", stated Manuel Navia, Ph.D., a co-founder and President of The
22	Althexis Company. "The last twenty years of antimicrobial research have seen
23	a decline in the introduction of new antibacterials and a disturbing increase
24	in the resistance to existing antibiotics. There is a pressing need to broaden
25	the arsenal of antibacterial agents beyond those currently in use. Our collaboration
26	agreement with PLIVA gives Althexis the financial and scientific support it
27	needs to move forward against its initial bacterial targets" concluded Dr. Navia.</p>
28	<p>"Our two organisations fit together very well", said Patrick Connelly, Ph.D.,
29	a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Althexis. "Our expertise in SBDD
30	nicely complements the vigorous program of drug discovery and development that
31	already thrives at PLIVA. The excitement generated during our initial scientific
32	discussions was palpable. Althexis has put together an impressive group of pharmaceutical
33	industry veterans, as well as University and industry based joint ventures,
34	to conduct its research projects. Now we can proceed expeditiously to begin
35	work on the PLIVA-sponsored projects that we are so optimistic about" concluded
36	Dr. Connelly.</p>
37	<p>"PLIVA has a long and distinguished history of truly innovative research, dating
38	back to the founding of the PLIVA Research Institute by Vladimir Prelog, 1975
39	Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. PLIVA's achievements include the discovery, development,
40	and manufacture of azithromycin, the outstanding macrolide antibiotic marketed
41	by Pfizer and PLIVA. We are confident that this partnership can meet the very
42	ambitious development and commercialisation goals we have set and, ultimately,
43	contribute to PLIVA's pipeline of novel anti-infective agents", Zeljko Covic,
44	CEO of PLIVA stated.</p>
45	<p>"We are extremely pleased to collaborate with The Althexis Company. PLIVA believes
46	in the power of SBDD, and Althexis' expertise in this area provides us with
47	a terrific complement to the antibiotics discovery program at PLIVA. This is
48	a powerful collaboration and represents a unique opportunity for PLIVA to explore
49	a state-of-the-art approach to making drugs" stated Radan Spaventi, M.D., Director
50	of the Research Institute at PLIVA.</p>
51	<p>PLIVA is the biggest pharmaceutical company in the area of Central and Eastern
52	Europe and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1996. In 1997,
53	PLIVA acquired a majority stake in one of the biggest Polish pharmaceutical
54	companies, today known as "PLIVA Krakow". PLIVA's current operations consist
55	of research, the development, manufacture, and sale of pharmaceutical, animal
56	health and veterinary, food, and cosmetics products. It is a company with a
57	strong focus on the research and development of new chemical entities. PLIVA's
58	biggest success to date has been the invention, development, and production
59	of azithromycin, which was licensed to Pfizer for worldwide marketing except
60	in countries where PLIVA has retained rights. Azithromycin (Zithromax, Sumamed)
61	posted sales of $1 billion (US) in 1998. Several joint ventures with international
62	pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as various scientific organisations,
63	together with a significant reshaping of its internal research activities support
64	PLIVA's commercial and strategic goals of becoming an internationally recognised
65	research-driven pharmaceuticals company.</p>
66	<p>The Althexis Company, based in Boston, was founded in 1998 by Drs. Manuel Navia
67	and Patrick Connelly, Paul J. Mass of Mass Ventures LLC (Atlanta, GA) and Michael
68	Dailey of Dailey & Partners (Southport, CT). The Althexis Company is dedicated
69	to discovering novel small molecule drugs to treat diseases in humans. Althexis
70	is committed to the practice of SBDD, a revolutionary approach to drug discovery
71	and development that allows a smaller, more modestly capitalised company to
72	compete effectively with even the largest players in the pharmaceutical industry.
73	The scientific founders of Althexis have been pioneers in the establishment
74	and evolution of SBDD as a scientific and commercial success.</p>