Organon Launches Global Research and Biotechnology Initiative

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and OSS, Netherlands, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Organon, the human healthcare business of Akzo Nobel , announced that the Company is launching a global biotechnology discovery research initiative with a Boston seminar and open house to discuss R&D strategy and collaborative opportunities.

"Organon is expanding upon its current biotechnology programs with a global discovery research initiative aimed at diversifying our therapeutic areas of focus and bringing the next generation of biopharmaceutical products to market," stated David Nicholson, Executive Vice President Global Research at Organon. "Organon fosters innovation and entrepreneurship with its unique approach to discovery research by giving our scientists the ability to explore interesting targets and compounds without being restricted to a specific therapeutic area of focus. When successful, our global pharmaceutical operations will provide the infrastructure and know-how needed to rapidly find an appropriate partner or move promising new programs towards the market."

Organon's strategy in biotechnology is to develop and market biological entities that represent new therapeutic approaches within areas of interest including immunology, oncology and osteoporosis. Organon will leverage its proprietary monoclonal antibody technology and is committed to partnering with academia for early research, and with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for product development programs and for access to the best discovery technologies. The new Cambridge research center, which officially opened on June 29th, will be the hub of its interface with innovative institutes and companies in the USA.

Organon's Biotechnology Day, that has attracted over 100 local biotechnology and licensing executives, will include discussions of Organon's research and partnering strategy by members of Organon's senior management including Toon Wilderbeek, President of Organon International; David Nicholson, and Wiebe Olijve Ph.D., Vice President Research at Organon. Additional talks will focus on doing business with Organon from Mark Gessler, CEO and President of Gene Logic Inc.; Aaron Hsueh, Ph.D., Professor at Stanford University; and Arthur Sands, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and President of Lexicon Genetics.

Organon and Biotechnology

Organon and its sister businesses in Diosynth Biotechnology and Intervet have a strong heritage in biotechnology. Organon's capabilities cover all aspects of drug discovery and development, from early research through clinical development and large scale manufacturing. The companies are actively involved in developing recombinant fertility treatments (Organon), recombinant vaccines (Intervet) and recombinant protein API's (Diosynth Biotechnology). Organon's lead product today is the biologic Follistim(R) (USA), Puregon(R) (Europe) and biotech now represents over 20% of revenues. Organon is also one of the largest global contract manufacturers of Active Biopharmaceutical Ingredients through Diosynth Biotechnology.

Research at Organon

Organon has a strong commitment to research and development with approximately 19% of revenues budgeted annually to R&D. The Company maintains discovery research facilities in Oss, The Netherlands; Newhouse, Scotland; and Cambridge, Mass., USA. Research programs encompass both biotherapeutic and small molecule discovery with over 20% of budgets committed to external collaborations. Current discovery collaborations involve over 50 biotech and academic groups worldwide. The new Organon Research Center in Cambridge will discover novel biologicals and will be the hub of interface with innovative institutes and biotechnology companies in the USA.

About Organon

Organon -- with shared head offices in Roseland, NJ, USA and Oss, The Netherlands -- creates, manufactures and markets prescription medicines that improve the health and quality of human life. Through a combination of independent growth and business partnerships, Organon strives to remain or become one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in each of its core therapeutic fields: reproductive medicine, psychiatry and anesthesia. Organon also actively pursues the discovery of both chemical and novel biological entities. In so doing, Organon seeks to exploit and further develop its basic discovery and production expertise in biotechnology. Organon products are sold in over 100 countries, of which more than 60 have an Organon subsidiary. Organon is the human health care business unit of Akzo Nobel. Additional information about Organon is available through its corporate website, http://www.organon.com/.

For more information Contact for Organon: Monique Mols Kari Lampka Associate Director, Media Relations MacDougall Biomedical Communications [phone] [phone]