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Phagetech appoints former Pfizer R&D executive, Pierre Etienne, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer

MONTREAL, QU�BEC (June 23, 2003): PhageTech Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company developing new classes of antibiotics, today announced the appointment of Pierre Etienne, M.D. as president and chief executive officer. Dr. Etienne joins PhageTech from Pfizer where he most recently held the position of vice-president, World-Wide Development Operations.

"Pierre Etienne joins PhageTech with over 18 years of pre-clinical, clinical research as well as operations experience in big pharma, including the preparation and filing of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and the design and execution of early clinical programs in a broad range of therapeutic areas," said Bill Scott, Ph.D., PhageTech's chairman. "Over the past year, PhageTech has rapidly evolved from a firm engaged in the identification and validation of novel antibacterial targets to a company increasingly focused on drug discovery and development. Pierre's experience will be invaluable to PhageTech as the company moves its growing portfolio of candidate compounds forward towards the clinic."

"PhageTech has established a scientific leadership position in a very unique area of anti-infectives research: the discovery and development of small molecule drugs that mimic the antimicrobial action of phages, viruses that prey upon and kill bacteria," said Dr. Etienne. "I look forward to helping PhageTech realize the power of this innovative approach and become a leader in the development of novel anti-infective drugs. I also look forward to contribute to the growth of the Montreal biotechnology sector. I owe a lot to this city and its institutions."

Dr. Pierre Etienne joined Pfizer in 1989 and over the following 14 years held a series of increasingly responsible positions in the areas of clinical research and clinical operations, ultimately being responsible for the execution of Phase 2 and 3 studies in all therapeutic areas on a worldwide basis.

Prior to joining industry, Dr. Etienne had a distinguished clinical research career at McGill University. Before joining Pfizer, Dr. Etienne also spent 3 years in early clinical research at CIBA-Geigy (US) (now Novartis).

Dr. Etienne received his M.D. degree from Liege Medical School University, in Liege, Belgium.

About PhageTech

PhageTech is private, venture-backed biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of new classes of antibiotic drugs for novel antibacterial targets, based on its world-leading efforts in phage genomics. By unraveling the genetic code of phages, or bacterial viruses, PhageTech identified antimicrobial proteins used by the phages to kill or stop the growth of bacteria, as well as the specific bacterial targets with which those proteins interact. The company then screens these bacterial targets to identify novel small molecule drugs that mimic the phage proteins' growth inhibitory effects. PhageTech is headquartered in Montreal, Qu�bec. For more information on PhageTech, please contact Pierre Etienne, M.D., president and CEO at (514) 332-1008.