Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Appoints Carl R. Merril, M.D., as Chair of Scientific Advisory Board

Company Announces Initiation of Series A Offering

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 24, 2000--Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Carl R. Merril, M.D. as Chairman of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Merril is a leading expert and innovator on employing non-biased approaches, such as high-resolution two-dimensional protein electrophoresis, to search for abnormal biochemical pathways and genomic alterations in diseases of unknown etiology that affect the central nervous system.

He has published more than 200 scientific papers and is an inventor on nearly two dozen patents.

Dr. Merril has been the recipient of numerous awards for his scientific and administrative achievements. These include the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Commendation Medal for "the development of silver staining and protein mapping methodologies," an Outstanding Service Medal for "leadership in the development of new biochemical methods for the investigation of human diseases," a Distinguished Service Medal for "outstanding contributions to the health of the nation," and the Surgeon General's Medallion for "outstanding leadership, exemplary performance, and extraordinary support to the Office of the Surgeon General and the United States Public Health Service."

Dr. Merril is an Adjunct Professor in Biochemistry and Genetics at George Washington University. He is also an Adjunct member of the graduate faculty of the University of Maryland.

Dr. Merril is an Editorial Board member of the journals Analytical Biochemistry, BioTechniques, and Insight. He also served as the Editor-In-Chief of Applied and Theoretical Electrophoresis and he was the Senior Associate Editor of the journal Electrophoresis.

He served as President of both the International Electrophoresis Society and the American Electrophoresis Societies and as Chairman of the Surgeon General's Advisory Panel for the Research Officer Group. He also served on the Alzheimer's Association's Initial Review Board of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council.

Panacea's President and CEO, Hossein A. Ghanbari, Ph.D. stated, "Carl's expertise, vision, and ingenuity greatly complement and enhance our protein-based drug discovery and development programs for cancer, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease."

About Panacea Pharmaceuticals

Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. focuses on developing and utilizing protein-based technologies to detect and identify changes associated with and involved in diseases of the central nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, and Lewy body diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

Changes in disease-relevant proteins by altered expression, post-translational modification, and functional variation are utilized to develop diagnostic tests and therapeutic agents.

More information is available at www.PanaceaPharma.com, a web site developed by Ei Web Promotion, a division of eiCommunications.com, Inc. (www.eiCommunications.com), which offers integrated communications and web development solutions for the Information Age.