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Scios Inc.
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SCIOS INC. NEWS RELEASE
SCIOS LETTERHEAD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Wendy Carhart
(408) 616-8325
Scios Inc.
NATRECOR(Registered Mark) VMAC STEERING COMMITTEE
EXPANDS TO INCLUDE EMERGENCY MEDICINE EXPERT
SUNNYVALE, Calif.-- December 15, 1999 -- Scios Inc. (Nasdaq: SCIO) today
announced that Dr. Charles L. Emerman, Chairman of the Department of Emergency
Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland will join the steering
committee for Scios' Phase III VMAC (Vasodilation in the Management of Acute
Congestive Heart Failure) trial. Dr. Emerman is also the Chairman, Department of
Emergency Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Examiner for the
American Board of Emergency Medicine, and a member of the American College of
Emergency Physicians.
"Dr. Emerman offers tremendous knowledge and experience in the field of
emergency medicine. As treatment of patients with acute decompensated Congestive
Heart Failure (CHF) typically begins in the emergency room setting, Dr.
Emerman's experience will greatly assist Scios in the execution and management
of the VMAC trial," noted Dr. James Young, Head, Section of Heart Failure and
Cardiac Transplant Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Chairman of
the VMAC Steering Committee.
Natrecor is Scios' recombinant form of human BNP (B-type natiuretic peptide),
part of the body's natural response to a failing heart. In previous clinical
studies, Natrecor has been shown to increase cardiac output and symptom
improvement compared to placebo. The VMAC trial began in October, 1999, and will
enroll approximately 500 patients with acute decompensated CHF for treatment
with Natrecor, placebo or nitroglycerin. The
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Company is undertaking the VMAC study to satisfy the concerns raised in an
April, 1999 non-approval letter from the FDA for Natrecor in the treatment of
acute CHF.
Dr. Emerman commented that "if approved for the treatment of acute decompensated
CHF, Natrecor will offer emergency department physicians an important new
therapeutic for early intervention in the treatment of patients with acute CHF.
I am pleased to join Dr. Young and the other members of the Steering Committee
in overseeing the VMAC trial with Scios."
Scios Inc.
Scios is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, and
commercialization of novel human therapeutics. Scios has commercial or research
and development relationships with Chiron Corporation, the DuPont
Pharmaceuticals Company, Eli Lilly and Company, GenVec Inc., Kaken
Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Novo Nordisk A/S of Denmark. Scios' psychiatric
sales and marketing division successfully markets seven psychiatric products,
including co-promotion arrangements with Janssen Pharmaceutica's Risperdal(R)
and SmithKline Beecham's Paxil(R). Additional information on Scios is available
at its web site located at www.sciosinc.com and in the Company's various filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and may include
references to the continued development and commercialization of Natrecor, as
well as other risks detailed from time to time in the reports filed by Scios
with the SEC, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 1998 and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q.
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CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS
Scios Inc. has scheduled its annual meeting of stockholders for February 28,
2000. The following information is provided concerning the participants on
behalf of Scios Inc. in the solicitation of proxies for this meeting.
The following individuals, all of whom are directors of Scios Inc., may be
deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies on behalf of the Company's
Board of Directors: Donald B. Rice, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Board of the
Company; President and Chief Executive Officer of Urogenesys, Inc.); Richard B.
Brewer (Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company); Samuel H.
Armacost (Chairman, SRI International); Myron Du Bain (Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (Retired), Fireman's Fund Corporation); Charles A.
Sanders, M.D. (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Retired), Glaxo Inc.);
Solomon H. Snyder, M.D. (Director, Department of Neuroscience, and
Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Molecular
Sciences and Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University); Burton E. Sobel, M.D.
(E.L. Amidon Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, The University of
Vermont College of Medicine); and Eugene L. Step (Executive Vice President,
President of the Pharmaceutical Division (Retired), Eli Lilly and Company).
The following executives of the Company may also be deemed participants: Thomas
L. Feldman (Vice President of Commercial Operations); Elliott B. Grossbard,
M.D. (Senior Vice President of Development); David W. Gryska (Vice President of
Finance and Chief Financial Officer); John A. Lewicki, Ph.D. (Vice President of
Research); John H. Newman (Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary);
George F. Schreiner, M.D., Ph.D. (Vice President, Cardiorenal Research) and
Wendy Carhart (Senior Manager of Investor Relations).
In the aggregate, these individuals beneficially own 1,623,757 shares of the
Company's Common Stock, including 1,267,332 shares subject to stock options
exercisable within 60 days of December 6, 1999. None of these individuals
beneficially owns more than 1% of the Company's Common Stock. In addition to
customary cash compensation payable to non-employee directors, under the
Company's Equity Incentive Plan each non-employee director receives an automatic
grant of a stock option to acquire 10,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock
at each annual meeting where the director is elected to the Company's Board of
Directors. Mr. Brewer's employment agreement with the Company provides for,
among other things, severance payments to Mr. Brewer in the event of termination
of his employment "without cause" or "for good reason."
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