Siena and Moscow - March, 2004. ASINEX Ltd, a worldwide leader in lead generation and lead optimization, will perform computational work for SIENABIOTECH S.p.A., an integrated drug discovery company.

ASINEX's computational department based on the information provided by SIENABIOTECH (undisclosed target & undisclosed set of small molecules active toward such target) will create different pharmacophore models and use the results to rank the whole in-house ASINEX library (Platinum Collection 120,000 compounds) based on the resulting docking score.

Georg C. Terstappen, V.P. Discovery Research of SIENABIOTECH said "Through this collaboration we expect to enhance the efficiency of our integrated drug discovery process which employs state-of-the-art platform technologies. Using ASINEX' compound collection, flexible docking and de novo ligand design technologies, we believe we can increase the chances of identifying high-quality leads."

"ASINEX's computational team, with their efficient lead generation and drug design solutions, have proven to be a creative partner for biotech companies. Our computational department is a part of ASINEX's 'chemistry driven' integrated drug discovery service. Today we are delighted to announce ASINEX's deal with Sienabiotech and we are looking forward to establish a long-term relationship which will also include chemistry services", said Dmitri Genis, ASINEX CEO.

About ASINEX

ASINEX (www.asinex.com) is a full-service chemistry provider of 'Intelligent Chemistry' for the lead generation and optimization stage of drug discovery. Well known as a supplier of diverse, small molecule libraries for screening and building blocks for combinatorial chemistry, ASINEX has developed a reputation for cost-effective and efficient Lead Optimization, Custom Synthesis and Focused Library Generation. Based in Moscow, with a total of 111 chemists (48 Ph.D.), 8 computational chemists (6 Ph.D.) and 30 biologists (20 Ph.D.), ASINEX is a powerful drug discovery resource.

About Sienabiotech S.p.A.

SIENABIOTECH S.p.A. (http://www.sienabiotech.com ) is an innovative biomedical research company situated in Siena, Italy. The company's focus comprises studying diseases of the central nervous system, including rare diseases, with the aim of identifying validated drug targets and lead molecules for therapeutic intervention. In order to support the drug discovery process from exploratory target identification towards phase IIa clinical studies the most advanced technology platforms including bioinformatics, proteomics, combinatorial chemistry, HTS and in vitro and in silico ADMET are being applied. SIENABIOTECH is owned by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation.

ASINEX Ltd
Andrea Altieri
Contract Manager
Business & Development Dep.
Tel: (00)7 495 728 3891
Fax: (00)7 495 780 3411
Email: aaltieri@asinex.com

Siena Biotech S.p.A.
Gianluca Breghi
Vice President
Finance & Business Dev.
Sienabiotech S.p.A.
+ 39 0577 381 219
Email: gbreghi@sienabiotech.it