Biacore extends top management

BIACORE EXTENDS TOP MANAGEMENT Lars-Göran Andrén Appointed Executive Chairman Biacore (SSE: BCOR; Nasdaq: BCOR) plans to further focus its business towards markets with high growth potential, especially products for research, development and other applications within the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years it has become clear that Biacore's biosensor technology can meet many of the pharmaceutical industry's needs for new tools to reduce the time and cost of discovering and developing new drugs. As communicated earlier, Biacore has already allocated a major part of its R&D resources towards products for the pharmaceutical industry. Collaboration agreements to further develop Biacore's technology have also been signed with Bioreason Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma KG and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In order to provide optimal resources for intensified business development activities and to make certain that Biacore capitalizes on identified new business opportunities, the Board of Biacore International AB has today decided to extend the Company's strategic management. Biacore's current President and CEO, Lars-Göran Andrén, will be appointed Executive Chairman and a new President and CEO will be recruited. In his new role, Lars-Göran Andrén will focus on the effective development of new business areas within Biacore, with particular emphasis on partnering and collaborations. Donald R Parfet, who is currently Non Executive Chairman, will remain on the Board as a Non Executive Director and Deputy Chairman. The changes will take place as soon as the new President has taken up his position. "This decision is a reflection of the outstanding contribution Lars-Göran has made in building Biacore into a successful international organization and is also in recognition of the need to further strengthen the executive management team, in order to fully realize the potential inherent in Biacore's affinity biosensor technology. I am looking forward to working with Lars-Göran in his new role and to welcoming the new President on board," said Donald R Parfet. Lars-Göran Andrén commented, "I will be delighted to assume the Chairmanship of Biacore, particularly at a time when we are working to capture the major opportunity which exists for its technology in the area of drug discovery. This new business area will be the next major market to be developed for our affinity biosensor technology and will complement our current dominant position in the life sciences market. The application potential of our technology across the pharmaceutical R&D value chain is significant and it is important that we have the commercial strength and focus to ensure we capture this opportunity. I am pleased to have the continued support of our leading shareholder, Pharmacia & Upjohn, as we take Biacore forward into its next major growth phase. "We recognize that it may take some time to find someone with the right experience and strategic outlook to complement our existing management strengths, but we believe this appointment is important if Biacore is to fully maximize the returns on its investment," he said. For further information, please contact: - Donald R Parfet, Chairman, tel +46 708 476807 - Lars-Göran Andrén, President and CEO, tel +46 18 675701 or +46 708 540234 Press Enquiries: - Nikul Odedra, HCC.De Facto Group, tel +44 (0)207 496 3300 Biacore is a global market leader in affinity-based biosensor technology. Target groups consist primarily of medical and life science research laboratories. However, expansion is also being pursued in other areas, such as food analysis. Biacore had sales of SEK 288.8 million in 1998 and an operating income of SEK 52.8 million. Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the company is listed on the OM Stockholm Exchange and Nasdaq in the U.S. Further information on Biacore can be found on the web: www.biacore.com Address and phone: Biacore International AB Rapsgatan 7 S-754 50 Uppsala Tel: +46 (0)18-675700 Fax: +46 (0)18-150111 e-mail: develop.bia@biacore.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/14/19991214BIT00520/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/14/19991214BIT00520/bit0002.pdf