Magellan Pharmaceutical Development Accelerates Drug Discovery

Magellan's Drug Discovery Group Obtains Access To Branch DNA

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (May 06, 2002) - Magellan Pharmaceutical Development, a full-service contract pharmaceutical development organization (PDO) formerly known as Magellan Laboratories and now owned by Cardinal Health, announced access to branch DNA for its gene expression research.

Magellan's Drug Discovery & Bioanalysis Group, a leader in genomic-based drug discovery, obtained the necessary tools that measure messenger RNA (mRNA) of interest directly from a wide variety of cells and tissues. The open platform allows Magellan to accelerate hit generation, lead optimization, toxicology screening and drug/drug interaction testing.

"This capability offers significant benefits to Magellan and its customers, by saving as much as 3.5 months in research time and generating physiologically relevant results," says Ana Menendez, Ph.D., director of Drug Discovery & Bioassays. "The ability to complete gene expression work for virtually any gene and accelerate the screening process for our clients has given us a considerable competitive edge."

Magellan's Drug Discovery & Bioanalysis Group designs programs to identify new efficacious and safe compounds and provides bioanalytical support to all phases in the discovery and development of new drugs. The Group's high throughput collection of assays covers all facets of drug discovery, absorption, metabolism, toxicology and pharmacokinetics, while also supplying genomic-based technologies.

About Magellan Pharmaceutical Development

Founded in 1991 by leading pharmaceutical scientists, Magellan Pharmaceutical Development serves the continually changing needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries by providing a complete range of GLP/GMP compliant analytical testing and development services. Magellan's client roster lists about 200 active contractors, including nine of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.

Magellan's recent acquisition by Cardinal Health created the most comprehensive pharmaceutical development service provider to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, from early stage drug development to commercial manufacturing for virtually every dosage form. Magellan is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. and has a biotech facility San Diego, Calif. For more information on Magellan, visit www.magellanlabs.com.