Active Pass Pharmaceuticals Alters Board and Management Composition and adds new Members to Scientific Advisory Board.

Health/Medical Writers

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 10 2001

Active Pass Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Jennifer Hamilton, Consultant to Ventures West Management, to the Board of Directors.

Dr. Hamilton was appointed to replace Nancy Harrison, Senior Vice President of Ventures West Management, who is on maternity leave.

Active Pass also announces the resignation of Andrew Rae as Vice President, Finance and Corporate Affairs, effective January 1st, 2002. "Andrew has been a key element in our financial success and corporate maturity over the past three years. We wish him the best as he pursues other opportunities," stated President & CEO, Dr. Peter B. Reiner.

Active Pass also announces the addition of two new members to the Company's Scientific Advisory Board: Dr. Susan P. C. Cole, Professor of Pathology and Pharmacology & Toxicology at Queen's University and Dr. Robert S. Molday, Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia. Commenting on the new appointments, Dr. Peter B. Reiner stated, "These appointments add further depth to our scientific acumen in the ABC transporter field."

Susan P. C. Cole, PhD, FRSC, is Professor of Pathology and Pharmacology & Toxicology at Queen's University. She is also a Senior Scientist of Cancer Care Ontario and holder of a Canada Research Chair in Cancer Biology. An internationally recognized authority on the molecular mechanisms by which tumour cells become resistant to chemotherapy, Dr. Cole is best known as the co-discoverer of the drug and conjugated organic anion ABC transporter protein, MRP1. Dr. Cole is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Robert S. Molday, PhD, is Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Molday is also Director of the Center for Macular Research, and holds the Canadian Research Chair in Vision and Macular Degeneration. Dr. Molday is well known for his contributions to understanding the biochemistry of vision, including discovery of ABCA4, an ABC transporter thought to be a target for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Active Pass Pharmaceuticals is a privately held biotechnology company whose principal activity is the discovery and early clinical development of novel drugs which target ABC transporters. A family of molecular pumps found in cells throughout the body, ABC transporter substrates and associated diseases rank among the key prizes in the pharmaceutical industry: the beta-amyloid peptide which aggregates in the brain to cause Alzheimer's disease, all-trans retinal whose inefficient removal from the retina causes macular degeneration, and cholesterol which deposits in the vasculature to cause atherosclerosis. The Company's long-term goal is to build a franchise based upon the development of therapeutics which target human ABC transporters. Active Pass has adopted a chemogenomic strategy in which functional arrays of human ABC transporters are being tested against carefully selected chemical libraries in order to identify compounds which modify ABC transporter function with unprecedented selectivity.