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/

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