Alteon Announces Sale of $10 Million in Common Stock

Alteon Announces Sale of $10 Million in Common Stock 


PARSIPPANY, N.J., Jan. 7  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alteon Inc. (AMEX:ALT)
announced today that it has entered into agreements with new and existing
institutional investors to sell $10 million of common stock, approximately 9.5
million shares at $1.05 per share, for net proceeds after expenses and fees of
approximately $9.6 million.  The agreements are subject to customary closing
conditions.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC served as placement agent in this transaction.  The
shares are offered through a prospectus supplement pursuant to the Company's
effective shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

Alteon intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the common stock to
fund the ongoing and planned Phase 2 systolic hypertension, heart failure and
erectile dysfunction clinical development programs of alagebrium chloride (ALT
711) and for general corporate purposes.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state
in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

About Alteon

Alteon is developing several new classes of drugs that have shown the potential
to reverse or slow down diseases of aging and complications of diabetes.  These
compounds appear to have an impact on a fundamental pathological process caused
by the progressive formation of protein-glucose complexes called Advanced
Glycation End-products (A.G.E.s).  The formation and crosslinking of A.G.E.s
lead to a loss of flexibility and function in body tissues and organs and have
been shown to be a causative factor in many age- related diseases and diabetic
complications.  Alteon has created a library of novel classes of compounds
targeting the A.G.E. pathway.

Alteon's lead compound alagebrium chloride (formerly ALT-711), the only A.G.E.
Crosslink Breaker in advanced human testing, has demonstrated safety and
efficacy in several Phase 2 trials and is actively being developed for systolic
hypertension and heart failure.  Over 1200 patients have been involved in
alagebrium's human clinical trials to date, of whom approximately 900 have
received active compound.  Ongoing clinical trials include the phase 2b
systolic hypertension trial, SPECTRA (Systolic Pressure Efficacy and Safety
Trial of Alagebrium), and the phase 2a heart failure trial, PEDESTAL (Patients
with Impaired Ejection Fraction and Diastolic Dysfunction: Efficacy and Safety
Trial of ALagebrium), as well as a third trial exploring mechanism of action in
endothelial dysfunction.  For more detailed information about alagebrium,
please visit the scientific publications section of the Alteon website,
http://www.alteon.com/.

Any statements contained in this press release that relate to future plans,
events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties including, but not limited to, those relating to technology and
product development (including the possibility that early clinical trial
results may not be predictive of results that will be obtained in large-scale
testing or that any clinical trials will not demonstrate sufficient safety and
efficacy to obtain requisite approvals or will not result in marketable
products), regulatory approval processes, intellectual property rights and
litigation, competitive products, ability to obtain financing, and other risks
identified in Alteon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
information contained in this press release is accurate as of the date
indicated.  Actual results, events or performance may differ materially. Alteon
undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to
these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events. 

DATASOURCE: Alteon Inc.



CONTACT:  Susan M. Pietropaolo, Director, Corporate Communications of &

Investor Relations of Alteon Inc., [phone]



Web site:  http://www.alteon.com/ 

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