o years has been extraordinary, particularly given the usual three-year timeframe for the processing of targets, chemistry and pharmacology necessary to yield a developmental drug candidate, said Professor Wolfgang Hartwig, executive vice president of pharmaceuticals research at Bayer. As we celebrate our second anniversary with Millennium, we anticipate that in addition to our screening pipeline of more than 70 targets, we will have several preclinical compounds and potentially one chemical compound nearing IND status by year-end.

In May 2000, Millennium and Bayer expanded the initial objectives of the alliance, based on the success of their efforts. The two companies collectively accelerated their second year goal of identifying new validated drug targets from 50 to 100 by the end of 2000. To date, more than 70 validated drug targets have been identified since the alliance began in September 1998.
Bayer and Millennium have created the worlds leading platform for biologically annotating targets and moving them into drug discovery, said Mark Levin, chief executive officer of Millennium. Our joint efforts exemplify the power of Millennium's genomics-based approach to drug discovery and development, Bayers cutting-edge screening and chemistry capabilities and expertise, and the extraordinary success which can be created through over-the-top alliances.

Alliance Background The primary goal of the alliance is for Millennium to supply 225 important new drug targets identified as relevant for cardiovascular disease, cancer, pain, hematology and viral infections. From those identified by the alliance, Bayer will select drug targets for its exclusive use and the remainder will be available to Millennium to use in its proprietary drug development efforts.

In return for a total investment of up to $465 million, including an equity investment in Millennium over a five-year period, Bayer receives access to key technologies in modern genome
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Contact: Maureen Suda, Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.
617-551-2959
Porter Novelli
23-Oct-2000

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