Prestwick Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Rights To Develop and Commercialize Lisuride in the U.S.

Washington, D.C. – September 29, 2003 – Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a CNS specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today the acquisition of U.S. rights to subcutaneous and transdermal lisuride from NeuroBiotec GmbH. Lisuride was originally developed as an oral agent and marketed by Schering AG (FSE; SCH, NYSE: SHR). The rights to non-oral formulations of lisuride were licensed to NeuroBiotec.

Lisuride is a dopamine agonist targeted for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. The agreement provides Prestwick with the U.S rights to develop and commercialize lisuride for subcutaneous and transdermal administration, currently in clinical Phase II development.

Parkinson`s disease afflicts over 1 million people in the US. Initially, patients respond well to treatment, but over time, they develop debilitating motor response complications (wearing-off; peak dose dyskinesias; on-off) that can be prevented and treated by continuous and stable delivery of dopaminergic drugs. Both the subcutaneous and the transdermal formulations of lisuride achieve these goals. Trials comparing continuous subcutaneous lisuride to oral levodopa and/or dopamine agonists in patients with motor response complications, have shown that patients receiving lisuride experienced a stable and significant reduction in motor response complications.

“Lisuride adds another late-stage development candidate to Prestwick’s pipeline,” said Robert Whitehead, President and Chief Executive Officer of Prestwick. “The market opportunity for lisuride is significant due to unmet patient needs in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. We are pleased to have the opportunity to complete the clinical development of lisuride and bring this potential breakthrough treatment to market in several different delivery vehicles. Lisuride will strengthen our portfolio of CNS products and provide for sustainable future growth.”

“Licensing lisuride to Prestwick Pharmaceuticals will allow NeuroBiotec to maximize the full potential of this innovative compound more quickly while the company focuses on developing and registering the product in Europe and other countries,” said Dr. Johannes Tack, Chief Executive Officer of NeuroBiotec. “ Prestwick is an ideal partner as it has a strong focus in the development and commercialization of central nervous system products. Lisuride is unique in its potential both as emergency treatment as well as to provide continuous dopaminergic stimulation.”

Prestwick has multiple late-stage product candidates for CNS disorders in clinical development. The company’s lead product is tetrabenazine, a molecule that has been approved to treat Huntington’s chorea in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Tetrabenazine is currently undergoing pivotal clinical testing in the U.S. and Prestwick plans to file an NDA next year.
About Prestwick Pharmaceuticals

Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on treatments for CNS disorders. The company was established in December 2002 and has multiple product candidates in clinical development in CNS. Prestwick plans to commercialize its lead product, tetrabenazine, in the U.S. as soon as FDA approval is obtained.

About NeuroBiotec GmbH, Berlin
The company was founded in 2001 in Berlin. NeuroBiotec is committed to acquire the rights to active pharmaceutical ingredients in the field of neurological disorders which can be developed efficiently for more valuable indications. NeuroBiotec has established an attractive portfolio of product opportunities in CNS and is to develop its late stage product, lisuride, to obtain market authorization for the European markets.