TOPIGEN Announces Appointments of John C. Schafer and Robert J. Deluccia to its Board of Directors

TOPIGEN Announces Appointments of John C. Schafer and Robert J.
Deluccia to its Board of Directors
Experienced Industry Executives Join Board of Biopharmaceutical Company Focused
On Developing Novel Respiratory products 


MONTREAL and RANDOLPH, N.J., Feb. 24  /PRNewswire/ -- TOPIGEN Pharmaceuticals
Inc., a developer of anti-inflammatory respiratory products, today announced
that the board of directors has appointed two experienced executives, effective
immediately.  Joining the board are John C. Schafer as chairman and Robert J.
DeLuccia as director.

"I am delighted to welcome John and Bob to TOPIGEN's board of directors," said
Paul K. Wotton, Ph.D president and chief executive officer.  "Their combined
healthcare industry experience, knowledge and vision provide us with valuable
guidance as we enter an exciting development phase for our company. I look
forward to working with them as they help to strengthen our Company."

Mr. Schafer is president, chief executive officer and director of IatroQuest
Corporation, a venture-backed biosensor company based in Montreal with target
applications in biodefense and drug discovery markets.  He was previously
president of Boston Medical Technologies and was also president and general
manager at several different divisions at Baxter International, where he gained
substantial general management, strategic planning and operational commercial
experience.  Mr. Schafer is also a director of iSense and a past director of
Insulet, two innovative diabetes management companies.

"I appreciate the opportunity to join TOPIGEN's Board at this exciting time,"
said Mr. Schafer.  "With TOPIGEN's lead candidate, ASM8 in a Phase 1 clinical
trial for asthma and other respiratory drug candidates in the pipeline, the
company is well positioned."

"I am very pleased to join the board of TOPIGEN," said Mr. DeLuccia. "TOPIGEN
has a novel technology that can be applied across a number of respiratory
diseases that address significant unmet medical needs and represent large and
growing market opportunities."

Mr. DeLuccia is president, chief executive officer and vice chairman of
MacroChem Corporation (NasdaqSC: MCHM), a specialty pharmaceutical company. Mr.
DeLuccia was formerly president and CEO of Immunomedics, a biopharmaceutical
company focused on diagnostic and therapeutic products for the treatment of
cancer and infectious diseases.  Prior to Immunomedics, Mr.DeLuccia was
president of Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, the US subsidiary of Sanofi
(now Sanofi-Aventis).  He is also a member of the board of directors of IBEX
Technologies, a publicly traded (TSX: IBT) pharmaceutical company focused on
the development and commercialization of proprietary biomarkers and
therapeutics for the improved management of cancer and arthritis.

About TOPIGEN

Privately-held TOPIGEN is a biopharmaceutical company developing several new
classes of drugs for respiratory disorders based upon its proprietary
technology using novel DNA/RNA chemistry.  These drugs are uniquely focused on
inhibiting multiple inflammatory pathways at the cellular site of inflammation
using a single drug product.  This pioneering approach has shown promising
preclinical results in inhibiting the underlying inflammation associated with
many pulmonary conditions such as asthma, COPD and allergic rhinitis.

TOPIGEN's inhaled asthma compound, ASM8(TM), is an antisense oligonucleotide
currently undergoing human Phase I clinical studies.  The Company believes that
ASM8 has the potential to replace steroids in the treatment of asthma and may
provide patients with a convenient once-a-day topical dosing regimen and an
improved side-effect profile over other medications currently available. 
TOPIGEN recently closed a USD$20 million series B round in Canada with venture
investors.  For more detailed information, please visit the TOPIGEN website,
http://www.topigen.com/.

(Editor's Note: Photographs of Mr. Schafer and Mr. DeLuccia are available upon
request)

  Contact:
   Bryan P. Murphy
   LaVoie Group, Inc.
   781-596-0200 X105
   

DATASOURCE: Topigen, Inc.



Contact: Bryan P. Murphy of LaVoie Group, Inc. for TOPIGEN, +1-781-596-

0200 ext. 105, 



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

Copyright