Peptisyntha, Inc. has begun work to expand laboratory space at its cGMP-compliant manufacturing facilities located in Torrance, California. Construction of the new space is in progress and will be completed by March 2005. Once completed, the new space will have two additional suites to manufacture large scale cGMP peptides.

“This additional working space will allow us to better serve our customers and meet increasing demand for our products and services,” said Shima Joshi, Peptisyntha’s Vice President of Operations.

Peptisyntha, Inc. was created in August 2001, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solvay America, Inc. to serve as a U.S.-platform to initiate and develop R&D and commercial contracts in the U.S. market for peptide-based drugs. Its expertise is further enhanced by its affiliate, Peptisyntha S.A. of Belgium, a leading manufacturer of peptides with proprietary solution-phase technology, which enables the cost-effective scale up of commercial quantities required by the biopharmaceutical industry. Details are available at www.peptisyntha.com.

Peptisyntha, Inc. is a member of the Solvay Group, an international group of chemical and pharmaceutical companies which employs more than 30,000 people in 50 countries, and recorded consolidated sales for 2003 of €7.6 billion, generated by activities in its three business sectors:  Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Plastics. Solvay is listed on the Euronext 100 index of leading European companies. Details are available at www.solvay.com.