Battelle Pulmonary Therapeutics to Present Novel Inhalation Technology and Therapeutics at Drug Delivery Partnerships Conference.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 14, 2002

Industry Leaders Debate Best Pulmonary Technologies

and Examine Future Innovations

Battelle Pulmonary Therapeutics Inc. (BPT) today announced that it will participate in two breakout sessions at the Institute for International Research's Sixth Annual Drug Delivery Partnerships Conference to be held January 28-30, 2002 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. As a Gold Sponsor of the event, BPT will join other leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug delivery companies to examine the industry's most current and novel technologies and therapeutics.

On Wednesday, January 30, BPT Vice President and Chief Scientist Michael Placke, Ph.D., DABT, will join Jeff Hincks, vice president of drug development for ViroPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: VPHM), to present early clinical test results from their partnership to develop a new infant/pediatric inhalation product designed to treat Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a major respiratory disease that is responsible for an estimated 90,000 hospitalizations and approximately 4,000 deaths among hospitalized infants each year. At a second breakout session that day, Placke will debate the advantages and disadvantages of liquid versus dry powder pulmonary technologies for the best systemic delivery of proteins, peptides, and small molecules. He will address how the more broadly applicable, user-friendly liquid system provides the best performance at the lowest cost.

Placke began his career with Battelle Memorial Institute in 1983 and played a key role in the inception and spin-out of BPT as an independent subsidiary. He has co-led the development of BPT's proprietary Mystic(TM) pulmonary device, which is based on a novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD) aerosol delivery process. BPT's EHD systems can deliver pulmonary drugs far more efficiently than the most common commercially available delivery devices, such as metered dose inhalers, passive dry powder inhalers, nebulizers, and other advanced-technology inhalers currently being designed. In addition to his technology and research development experience, Placke has expertise in building business partnerships and has spoken at numerous scientific and industry conferences during his 18-year career.

About BPT

Battelle Pulmonary Therapeutics Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging science and engineering to design more effective medicines. Using its proprietary Mystic(TM) inhalation delivery technology, the company develops its own products for cancer and asthma and has partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies including Abbott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to develop therapies to treat asthma, COPD, respiratory infections, and systemic diseases. BPT is a pre-public subsidiary of Battelle Memorial Institute, the world's largest research and consulting organization. For more information on BPT, reference the company's website at www.bpt-inc.com. For information about IIR's Drug Delivery Partnerships conference, go to www.drugdeliverypartnerships.com.