LION bioscience Shares Accepted into New German Prime Standard Category.

Business/Technology Editors and Health/Medical Writers

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & HEIDELBERG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2003

LION bioscience AG (Neuer Markt: LIO, WKN 504 350, Nasdaq: LEON), a leading provider of integrated IT solutions for the life science industry, says its shares were accepted into the German stock exchange's new Prime Standard segment as of January 1.

The German stock exchange is introducing new trading segments based on companies' accounting and reporting standards as well as new indexes based on industry sectors. Companies that meet higher transparency rules are eligible to apply to the Prime Standard segment. Those criteria include quarterly reporting, international accounting standards (IAS or US GAAP), a corporate calendar, at least one analyst conference per year as well as ad-hoc disclosure in English. Companies that adhere only to German disclosure standards are assigned to the General Standard segment.

LION bioscience was already in compliance with the Prime Standard criteria before the new segment was introduced. As a member of Nasdaq since its initial public offering in August, 2000, LION has consistently fulfilled Nasdaq accounting and reporting requirements.

According to the stock exchange's new classification by sector, LION's shares are assigned to the technology sector. As such, LION could become a member of the new TecDAX, a technology index of 30 mid-cap technology firms. In that case, LION's shares would begin trading within the Prime Standard segment as a member of the TecDAX beginning on March 23, 2003.

"We are delighted to be accepted into the new German Prime Standard segment, as it demonstrates we are adhering to the highest reporting standards," said LION bioscience CEO Dr. Friedrich von Bohlen. "This is important news for our shareholders, as we are also on the right track with our business and operational goals."

About LION bioscience AG

LION bioscience (http://www.lionbioscience.com) provides proven information and knowledge management solutions to significantly improve life science R&D performance and productivity. LION's performance software solutions developed by its scientific and IT experts enable researchers to simultaneously compile and analyze data across various phases of the R&D process. Research time and costs are reduced, as scientists are able to identify and focus on the most promising drug candidates earlier.

LION sets the standard for integration solutions with more than 200 corporate and academic customers globally including, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celera, Chiron, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Janssen, Merck Inc., Nestle, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Paradigm Genetics, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Pfizer, Roche, Schering AG, Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals and Takeda.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and other applicable U.S. and German laws. These forward-looking statements may include projections, estimates, targets, goals and descriptions of future events. Such statements are based on the current targets that LION has set itself and on LION's current expectations, each of which is subject to risks and uncertainties. LION's actual results may vary materially from those targeted, expected or projected because of factors such as uncertainties relating to technologies, product and solution development, acceptance by the market of LION's offerings, market or industry trends, success of LION's business model and strategy, competition, cost or pricing of LION's products and solutions, dependence on collaborations and partners, regulatory approvals, competition, intellectual property of others, or patent or copyright protection and litigation. We refer you to LION's Annual Report on Form 20-F, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 18, 2002, as well as LION's future SEC filings, in which these and other risk factors are discussed. LION expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates, revisions or corrections to any forward-looking statements or historical information contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, change of assumptions or business model, future developments or otherwise.LION bioscience(R), Life Science Informatics(TM), LSI(TM), iD3(TM), i-biology(R), bioSCOUT(R), arraySCOUT(TM), arrayTAG(TM), arrayBASE(TM), genomeSCOUT(TM), pathSCOUT(TM), piSCOUT(TM), SRSeverEST(TM), iDEA(TM) and DiscoveryCenter(TM) are either registered trademarks of LION bioscience AG or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries, or there are pending applications by LION bioscience AG or its subsidiaries for these trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademark of the respective owners.