ASCEND Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BIOWIRE2K

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2004

ASCEND Therapeutics, Inc. announced today the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board. This board brings to ASCEND significant expertise in the areas of endocrinology, breast disease, drug delivery and regulatory affairs.

The initial members of the ASCEND board are:

-- Dr. Carl Peck, M.D., Founder of the Center for Drug

Development Science (CDDS) and Professor of Pharmacology and

Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Peck is

a recognized authority in drug regulatory science. From

1987-1993, Dr. Peck was Director of the FDA's Center for Drug

Evaluation and Research (CDER). In this position, he oversaw

the submission, review and approval process for all INDs, NDAs

and ANDAs submitted to the FDA. After leaving the FDA, Dr.

Peck established the CDDS. This Center has served as an

important resource for innovation in drug development.

-- Adrian Dobs, M.D., M.H.S., Professor and Vice Chair for

Clinical Research, Departments of Medicine, Endocrinology and

Metabolism at The Johns Hopkins University. In this role, Dr.

Dobs oversees all of the university's clinical studies. She is

a recognized endocrine authority and leading clinical research

scientist in the area of testosterone therapy for both men and

women.

-- Rogerio Lobo, M.D., the Willard C. Rappleye Professor of

Obstetrics and Gynecology and a director of the Center for

Reproductive Sciences at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.

Dr. Lobo is an internationally known expert in the field of

reproductive endocrinology. He is the author of Treatment of

Postmenopausal Women and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the

Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. He is a

member of the advisory committee on policy of the American

Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and serves on the

editorial boards of several obstetric and gynecological 

journals.

-- Robert Mansel, M.S., F.R.C.S., Professor of Surgery and

Chairman of the Division of Surgery at the University of Wales 

College of Medicine in Cardiff, Wales. Professor Mansel

specializes in the field of breast cancer and benign breast

disease. He has authored numerous publications on benign

breast disease, sentinel node biopsy breast cancer trials,

tamoxifen prevention therapy and genetic studies in high-risk

breast cancer families. He is joint author of a textbook on

benign breast disease.

-- Russell Potts, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor in the Department of

Pharmacy at the University of California at San Francisco. Dr.

Potts previously served as Vice President of Research and

Development of Cygnus, a company known for the development and

manufacture of advanced transdermal drug delivery systems,

such as Nicotrol(R). Over the last 20 years, Dr. Potts has

pursued both an academic and pharmaceutical with industry

career in the fields of dermal drug delivery and medical

devices, Potts developed qualitative methodology to predict

skin permeability. He is the author of numerous publications,

including The Mechanisms of Transdermal Drug Delivery.

-- Ronald Swerdloff, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Chief of the

Division of Endocrinology in the Department of Medicine at

UCLA. He is a leading expert on men's health and androgen

research and has published more than 250 articles on the

subject. Currently, Dr. Swerdloff is Director of the Mellon

Center for Men's Health, Director of the WHO Collaborating

Center for Research in Human Reproduction and Chairman of the

National Klinefelter's Society Scientific Committee. He is

also a member of the NIH Safety Advisory Committee of the

National Aging Institute.

"We are delighted to have assembled such a prestigious group of individuals to serve as our Scientific Advisory Board," noted Jay Bua, Chief Executive Officer of ASCEND Therapeutics. "We believe the cumulative expertise of this group will be of great value to ASCEND as we further develop and commercialize our products."

ASCEND Therapeutics

Formed in 2001, ASCEND (www.ascendtherapeutics.com) s an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the use of transdermal drug delivery technology to overcome therapeutic barriers and thereby raise the standard of care for certain chronic conditions.

For more information, visit ASCEND's web site at www.ascendtherapeutics.com.