Prionics to continue testing Italian cattle

Zurich/Milan - The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale in Brescia, Italy has announced that Italy's three largest laboratories will continue to use BSE tests developed by Prionics. Swiss-based Prionics AG, the world leader in prion diagnostics, has thus been able to shake off its competitors to win a contract to supply 500,000 BSE tests, the largest tender of its kind in Italy. "We are very pleased that the Italian labs have chosen our tests and confirmed their trust in our product, which has been in use in Italy since the year 2000," says Dr. Bruno Oesch, Head of Research & Development at Prionics.

On 1 January 2003 Prionics Italia SRL, a subsidiary of Prionics AG, started their business in Milan. Dr. Maria Rita Strappatelli and her team will be responsible for marketing Prionics products in Italy. "With the employment of Dr. Strappatelli we have integrated an important part of our previous sales organisation in Italy into the Prionics Italia SRL," says Prionics Head of Operations Dr. Markus Moser.

"The subsidiary will also enable us to benefit from important synergy effects within the EU." About Prionics Prionics AG is the world leader in the early diagnosis of prion diseases such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("Mad Cow Disease") and scrapie. The company shot to fame when its BSE tests uncovered the fact that cattle across Europe had contracted Mad Cow Disease. Prionics is now seen as a centre of excellence in the diagnosis of so-called prion diseases. Its areas of research and development focus on the fields of neurology and prion diseases. The company's research team works within a network of prion experts and top-class neurologists around the world. Prionics AG is currently employing 80 people and was ISO 9001 certified in December 2002.

For further information please contact:
Stephanie Musshafen
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel.: +41 44 200 20 95
Mobile: +41 79 352 53 16
Email: press.relations@prionics.ch