Jo Lennartz, PhD appointed to President and CEO of Diosynth Biotechnology.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2003

Akzo Nobel has announced the appointment of Dr. Jo Lennartz to President and CEO of Diosynth Biotechnology in Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, replacing Bob Salsmans, who retired on September 1st after almost 30 years of service at Akzo Nobel. Dr. Lennartz joins the company from Business Unit Resins at Akzo Nobel BV in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands, where he previously held the position of President and General Manager.

After Dr. Lennartz received a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany, he began his professional career at Procter & Gamble in Belgium and Germany, where he held positions of increasing responsibility from 1977 to 1985. At that time, he joined Akzo Chemie in Dueren, Germany as Department Head, Application Research, Surfactants, where he rose to Research Center Manager and Director of Research. In 1993, he moved from Dueren to Amersfoort, The Netherlands, where he joined the Detergents & Personal Care Products unit of Akzo Chemicals as Worldwide Marketing Manager and subsequently General Manager. From 1996 to 2000, Dr. Lennartz served as General Manager for Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry's European surfactants businesses. In this capacity he was initially based in Amersfoort and during 1999 and 2000 in Stenungsund, Sweden. He then moved to the Business Unit Resins in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, where he attained the position of President and General Manager.

Bob Salsmans has worked at Akzo Nobel for 30 years where, most recently, he orchestrated the integration of the Diosynth Biotechnology facilities in Oss, The Netherlands and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina following the acquisition of Covance Biotechnology Services in 2001. During his tenure, he implemented many operational efficiencies enabling the achievement of numerous milestones. For example, Bob implemented a Global Quality Assurance Policy (QAP), which clearly defines standard operating procedures for all requirements from early Process Development through Commercial Manufacturing of recombinant proteins and peptides. This QAP outlines a uniform approach to cGMP manufacturing and quality operations that ensures seamless operations within and between the manufacturing sites in Oss, The Netherlands and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This program helps Diosynth Biotechnology and its customers in evaluating, developing and executing a high quality, efficient manufacturing process by ensuring that each product is assigned the most appropriate program and development trajectory stage to help ensure success and to identify realistic project timeframes.

This type of leadership has resulted in the creation of a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing organization with a rich history of success:

-- More than 40 customers, representing the entire spectrum from

start-up biotechnology to multinational pharmaceutical

companies.

-- Over 50 recombinant proteins (monoclonal antibodies, vaccines,

fusion proteins, cytokines, etc.) for which fermentation /

cell culture conditions, purification processes and analytical

methods have been designed.

"It's an exciting time at Diosynth Biotechnology and I'm honored to have been selected to bring this company to the next level," said Dr. Jo Lennartz, President and CEO of Diosynth Biotechnology. "We look forward to augmenting the great achievements that Bob and his team have made. Certainly, the biopharmaceutical industry is at the forefront of technology and the growth potential of this business is impressive. More importantly, we will leverage the experience of the impressive group of professionals at both the RTP and Oss facilities to manufacture valuable products for our customers that will make significant strides in improving patient care."

Diosynth RTP, Inc. in combination with the biotechnology resources of Diosynth BV in Oss, The Netherlands, is marketed globally as Diosynth Biotechnology. As a business unit of Akzo Nobel, Diosynth Biotechnology, is a market-driven and technology-based manufacturer of complex active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company's biotechnology operations feature the highest quality standards for robust and economically viable process development and cGMP manufacturing services for recombinant proteins. peptides and monoclonal antibodies. Diosynth Biotechnology operates FDA- and EMEA-inspected cGMP production facilities in Research Triangle Park, NC and in Oss, the Netherlands serving pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers globally.

Visit us at http://www.DiosynthBiotechnology.com.