Atugen Biotechnology GmbH Founds Subsidiary in Boulder,

Colorado USA Berlin (PROTEXT) - Atugen Biotechnology, GmbH (Atugen),founded in 1998 in Berlin, Germany as a new target discovery andvalidation company, announces the official foundation of itsNorth American research center as a subsidiary in Boulder,Colorado: Atugen USA, Inc. (http://www.atugen.com). Atugen USA isstarting its research activities with 16 employees who wereformerly employed by Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RPI) and hadserviced ongoing target discovery and validation corporatepartnerships. Last year when Atugen was spun out of RPI, it was agreed thatalong with the target discovery and validation technology, theresearch work on existing collaborations would be transferred toAtugen. The US subsidiary in Boulder was founded primarily tohave the same scientific group continue to serve the existingcollaborations with Berlex, Roche BioSciences, Glaxo Wellcome,Parke-Davis and Chiron and to serve other future customers in theAmerican market. The US subsidiary is expected to be selfsustaining as a result of revenues from its collaborations. Atugen has named Drs. Ralph E. Christoffersen and MichaelSteinmetz to the Board of Directors for Atugen USA and hasadditionally named Dr. Klaus Giese as the President and Dr. JorgPotzch as the Secretary and Treasurer. Director of Research atAtugen USA is Dr. James D. Thompson. "Proximity to the customers is very important," said MichaelSteinmetz, acting CEO of Atugen and Director of Atugen USA. "Ourcustomer is the international pharmaceutical and biotechnologyindustry, so it is important for us to have a presence on bothcontinents." Customers from the European continent will beserved primarily by the headquarters of Atugen in Berlin. Atugen Biotechnology, GmbH is an integrated genomics company,headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Atugen's mission is to provideits pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners with cost-effective, high throughput target analysis, plus in vitro and invivo target discovery and validation to accelerate the drugdevelopment process. ots Original Text Service: AtugenBiotechnology, GmbH Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact:Dr. Michael Steinmetz, Acting CEO Tel.: (in the USA) 617-225-7054, or Dr. Jorg Potzch, VP Administration, Tel.: (in Germany)(0)30-9489-2700, both of Atugen Biotechnology, GmbH, or AleneHolzman, VP, Corporate Development Tel.: (in the USA) 303-449-6500 of Atugen USA, Inc. Web site: http://www.atugen.com

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