Novartis announces typhoid vaccine research program in partnership with the Wellcome Trust

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* Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health (NVGH) developing
bivalent vaccine to prevent Typhoid, which affects over 21
million people worldwide annually

* New grant from the Wellcome Trust funds progression of vaccine
from preclinical through Phase I and II studies with view to
protect against both S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi strains

* New vaccines an urgent priority as no vaccine available for S.
Typhi for use in young children and infants and no vaccine
available at all for S. Paratyphi A.

Basel, June 4, 2009 - Novartis announced that the Novartis Vaccines
Institute for Global Health (NVGH) has been awarded a grant from the
Wellcome Trust to develop a bivalent vaccine for Typhoid fever, a
disease that affects more than 21 million people worldwide every
year.

The Euro 5.15 million grant will fund preclinical development and
Phase I and II studies for a vaccine that protects against both S.
Typhi and S. Paratyphi A; two very similar illnesses which, if left
untreated, can result in complications and death. The currently
available vaccines for S. Typhi do not protect infants and young
children. S. Paratyphi A is a growing problem causing 25-50% of all
Typhoid cases.

"With more than 21 million cases of Typhoid fever worldwide and more
than 600,000 deaths each year, this disease is a serious global
health issue, especially in the developing world," said Dr. Daniel
Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis. "The bivalent vaccine being
developed by NVGH will use a novel approach to increase efficacy and
address the needs of patients that other vaccines have not. This will
ultimately have the potential to eradicate this disease."

The NVGH opened in 2008 with a focus on addressing the unmet medical
need for vaccines for diseases of the developing world. In addition
to leveraging prior experience in R&D for the development of
conjugate vaccines targeting Salmonella, NVGH research will build
upon a promising prototype conjugate vaccine developed by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). NVGH aims to have a product
ready for clinical trials by the end of 2010.

Expert advice, project support, and strategic oversight will be
provided by the Wellcome Trust.

"This initiative is a welcome and important contribution to the fight
against infection" said Dr. Ted Bianco, Director of Technology
Transfer at the Wellcome Trust. "Partnerships between public and
private sector research give us the best chance of effectively
addressing the R&D needs of neglected diseases. The concept of
developing a vaccine that can protect against both causative agents
of Typhoid Fever makes great sense from a public health perspective,
but requires a team of great skill to bring to fruition. I wish the
NVGH team every success in this exciting endeavor."

About NVGH
NVGH is a research institute in Siena with a nonprofit mission to
exclusively focus on the development of vaccines for diseases of the
developing world. It is the first institute of its kind to be set up
by a major vaccine manufacturer. NVGH is a public private partnership
and is dedicated to collaborating with external organizations to
build strength in resources. NVGH shares the world-class facilities
and technologies of the company's vaccines research headquarters. The
Institute will work with universities, research institutes and other
public and private organizations to develop the scientific basis for
vaccine development and bridge an existing gap between the discovery
of promising vaccine candidates in academic research institutes and
their manufacturing and distribution, by providing the facilities and
expertise for scale vaccine production and human proof of concept
studies.

About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds
innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally,
spending around GBP 600 million each year to support the brightest
scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public
debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and
wellbeing. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

Disclaimer
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be
identified by terminology such as "developing," "will," "with a view
to," "can," "potential," "aims to," or similar expressions, or by
express or implied discussions regarding the potential development
and approval of a typhoid vaccine, or regarding potential future
revenues from a typhoid vaccine. You should not place undue reliance
on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the
current views of management regarding future events, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
statements. There can be no guarantee that a typhoid vaccine will be
approved for sale in any market. Nor can there be any guarantee that
a typhoid vaccine will achieve any particular levels of revenue in
the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding a
typhoid vaccine could be affected by, among other things, unexpected
research and development delays or results; unexpected clinical trial
results, including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected
additional analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory
actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's
ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary
intellectual property protection; competition in general; government,
industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the
foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Novartis
Group's assets and liabilities as recorded in the Group's
consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to
in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated,
believed, estimated or expected. Novartis is providing the
information in this press release as of this date and does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.

About Novartis
Novartis AG provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving
needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on healthcare,
Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs:
innovative medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive
vaccines, diagnostic tools and consumer health products. Novartis is
the only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2008, the
Group's continuing operations achieved net sales of USD 41.5 billion
and net income of USD 8.2 billion. Approximately USD 7.2 billion was
invested in R&D activities throughout the Group. Headquartered in
Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately
98,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140
countries around the world. For more information, please visit
http://www.novartis.com.

In 2008, the Novartis access-to-medicines programs, were valued at
USD 1.26 billion and reached 74 million patients globally. These
initiatives range from drug donation and research programs to combat
neglected diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, TB and leprosy in
developing nations to patient assistance programs that help cancer
patients receive the most innovative and effective treatments.

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Novartis Media Relations

Central media line : +41 61 324 2200
Eric Althoff
Novartis Global Media Relations
+41 61 324 7999 (direct)
+41 79 593 4202 (mobile)
eric.althoff@novartis.com

e-mail: media.relations@novartis.com

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