SHANGHAI, China, March 2, 2006

The National Center for Drug Screening (NCDS), Shanghai, China and H. Lundbeck A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark, today announced it has entered into a long-term collaborative research agreement. 

The NCDS is home to a library of thousands of unique synthetic compounds and extracts from natural products that are at the heart of traditional Chinese medicine. Affiliated with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the NCDS is a key national technology innovation base in drug discovery and development. The NCDS and Lundbeck will work together to identify molecules that are suitable for further development. Based on the findings, Lundbeck’s scientists will develop new and improved therapeutics and bring these to the market worldwide to help patients suffering from neurological and psychological diseases.

Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

“We are very pleased to work with Lundbeck as a long-term strategic partner in our pursuit to discover novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of neurological and psychological diseases”, commented Dr. Ming-Wei Wang, Director of the NCDS. “Through a comprehensive arrangement that covers almost every aspect of drug discovery and development, we are certainly destined to maximize the strengths of both parties in terms of technologies, experiences, resources and manpower. We expect that this partnership will make a profound impact on the historical transformation of Chinese pharmaceutical industry – from imitation to innovation”.

As a center of excellence and the gateway to China, the NCDS has successfully formed a number of drug discovery and development collaborations with several multinational biopharmaceutical companies located in North America, Europe and Asia. This latest addition of Lundbeck to the list of international partners is complementary to the NCDS’ research interests that include tumour, CNS disorders, metabolic diseases and certain viral or bacterial infections.

“China, and especially Shanghai, is an increasingly important international pharmaceutical R&D hub where knowledge is exchanged for the good of the patients and the Chinese R&D community. Lundbeck would like to be an active part of this. The agreement with the NCDS is one of several agreements Lundbeck has in place with Chinese R&D companies and institutions. Dr. Ming-Wei Wang and the NCDS in general has impressed us and this agreement will be a cornerstone in Lundbeck’s future research efforts in China,” said Dr. Peter Høngaard Andersen, Lundbeck’s Vice President of Research.

"Lundbeck, which is a company specialized in neurology and psychiatry, established a Representative Office in Beijing in 1998 and is currently building its own Sales and Marketing organisation in China."

About the NCDS

The National Center for Drug Screening was jointly set up by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Municipality Government. It offers a wide-range of drug screening services and technical consultations to universities, research institutions and commercial entities across China. Using its advanced technology platforms and high quality services, and through external collaborations with biopharmaceutical research and development institutions, the NCDS is playing an indispensable role in the adequate utilization of compound resources nationwide and promotion of innovative drug development in China. Focusing on major diseases that affect the Chinese population (such as cancer, central nervous system diseases, metabolic disorders and infectious diseases, etc.), the NCDS is actively developing internationally advanced drug screening assays, performing large-scale compound library screening and conducting downstream studies. The establishment of the NCDS is an important milestone in modernizing China's drug research and innovation system. For more information, please visit www.screen.org.cn.

About Lundbeck

H. Lundbeck A/S is an international pharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development, production, marketing and sale of drugs for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. In 2004, the company’s revenue was DKK 9.7 billion (approx. EUR 1.3 billion). The number of employees is approx. 5,000. For further information, please visit www.lundbeck.com.