Organon Launches Global Research and Biotechnology Initiative

- Organon's Biotechnology Day Attracts Over 100 Boston-area
Biotechnology and Licensing Executives -

Organon, the human healthcare business of Akzo Nobel (Nasdaq: AKZOY -
News), 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® (USA),
Puregon® (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
+31-(0)412-665440 +1-508-647-0209
klampka@macbiocom.com

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Source: Organon

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