Richard Pops Elected BIO Chairman; 2003-2004 Board of Directors Announced

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2003) - Richard F. Pops, CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Alkermes, Inc., has been elected chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization's board of directors. Pops will serve for two years and succeeds David E. Robinson, president, chairman and CEO of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego. Pops was elected during BIO's annual membership meeting at the BIO 2003 Annual Convention in Washington, D.C.

"David Robinson will be one tough act to follow," said BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum. "He led BIO through the renewal of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, our challenge to Medicare's outpatient reimbursement formula, the stem cell and cloning controversies, and three extraordinarily successful industry conventions, including a breakthrough event in his hometown.

"But I cannot think of a better choice to take the baton than Richard Pops. Having guided Alkermes from R&D through multiple financings, clinical trials and partnerships, as well as an FDA product approval, Richard has lived and fought through the challenges biotechnology companies face at every stage of development. He is intimately familiar with the financial landscape for biotechnology, and as BIO's vice chairman for health care, he has already provided forceful leadership on issues such as Medicare reimbursement," said Feldbaum.

"This is an exciting time to be in a leadership role in the biotechnology industry, and I am delighted to accept this position," said Pops. "Over the last six months, we've seen a resurgence of investor interest in biotechnology in tandem with a wave of important product approvals at the FDA. Industrial, environmental and agricultural applications of the technology are also expanding, and biotechnology continues to be a vital area of innovation contributing to our economy and our quality of life.

"And yet the legislative, legal and regulatory challenges the industry faces remain significant. Over the next two years, BIO will be dealing with follow-on biologics pathways, reimbursement, global health, biodefense incentives and regulations, agricultural regulations, and issues surrounding stem cell research and international trade. It's a full agenda, and one that I look forward to taking on."

Pops has been CEO of Alkermes since February 1991. Under his leadership, Alkermes has grown from a privately held company with 25 employees to a publicly traded, emerging pharmaceutical company with more than 400 employees in multiple locations throughout the United States. He has served on BIO's board since 1996 and also serves on the boards of Alkermes; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.; Reliant Pharmaceuticals, LLC; CombinatoRx, Inc.; the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the Harvard Medical School.

Other BIO board officers for 2003-2004 are:

• Vice Chairman, Food & Agriculture: Howard Minigh, group vice president, DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition
• Vice Chairman, Health Care: James C. Mullen, president and CEO, Biogen, Inc.
• Secretary: Frederick W. Telling, Ph.D., vice president, corporate policy and strategic management, Pfizer, Inc.
• Treasurer: Thomas G. Wiggans, president and CEO, Connetics Corporation
• Ex-Officio: David E. Robinson, chairman, president and CEO, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

BIO Board of Directors, 2003-2004

BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.