As part of this year's charity campaign, Lek, a new Sandoz company will donate over 1000 personal computers to elementary and secondary schools, health-care institutions and organizations which work with children, and local associations which contribute to the improvement of educational conditions for youths and of local environments throughout Slovenia.

Annual charity campaign - a further step for Lek's corporate citizenship

5. 11. 2004

Ljubljana, November 5, 2004 – The Open House held in Lendava on October 15th saw the beginning of Lek Pharmaceuticals’ annual charity campaign. As part of the campaign, which will last until the end of the year, Lek will donate over 1000 personal computers to elementary and secondary schools, health-care institutions and organizations which contribute to the quality of life of children, and local associations throughout Slovenia. Through this campaign Lek is doing its part as a corporate citizen and contributing to the creation of a better today and tomorrow.

This year, Lek replaced its entire information system in order to update and harmonize its information system with that of the Novartis Business Group. By the end of 2004 Lek will have replaced over 1000 personal computers (desktops and notebooks). All of these computers are still in good condition and it is not appropriate to write them off. Therefore Lek decided to give them to interested and needy kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools, faculties, humanitarian organizations (maternity hospitals, safe houses, security and educational institutions) and health-care institutions which help improve the quality of life. Through this charity campaign Lek wishes to contribute to the improvement of the educational conditions of children and youths, and the work conditions of individual institutions and associations.

As in past charity campaigns, Lek decided to work throughout Slovenia. Prekmurje region, where over 100 computers were donated, was covered during the week when an Open House was held in Lendava (October 15th, 2004). On this day Lek held a presentation ceremony at which computers were donated to the Lendava I and Lendava II bilingual elementary schools, the Miško Kranjec elementary school and the Lendava Bilingual Secondary School. The Principal of the Lendava I bilingual elementary school, Jože Sobočan, stated: “On this occasion I feel a moral obligation to warmly thank Lek Pharmaceuticals, as we are very pleased that they decided to make donations instead of selling the computers off. These computers will be extremely useful at our school, since the Slovene Foundation for Technical Culture has awarded us the title of Research School, and we perform the types of projects where computers are very important. Modern educational work cannot be done without computer support, so I believe that all of the organizations will find these computers extremely useful.”

In the first three weeks of the campaign over 60 recipients from central and northeastern Slovenia have already received over 400 computers. We will continue to donate computers up to the end of the year to recipients in the Notranjska, Dolenjska, Koroška, Primorska, Štajerska, Gorenjska and Zasavje regions.

As a pharmaceutical company which is concerned with the long-term improvement and preservation of the quality of health and life, Lek actively participates in humanitarian and health-care activities and provides assistance in the fields of sport, culture, education and scientific research. Lek’s broad commitment to its social environment has a common denominator, which is a great amount of responsibility for children and youth, for whom Lek endeavors to provide a better today and tomorrow.

This campaign is just one of the steps which Lek has courageously and decisively taken in order to do their part as a corporate citizen, as a part of their mission to improve health care and the quality of life in the fullest sense of the words. Lek’s role is also part of Novartis’ corporate citizenship, which is one of the pillars of the operations of that globally successful pharmaceutical company.

Lek, a new Sandoz company, is an international pharmaceutical company which operates as a business center on the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe and the CIS region, and also markets its products successfully on the US market, in the EU and elsewhere around the world. Lek creates value through the development, manufacturing and sales of pharmaceutical products, active pharmaceutical ingredients and biopharmaceutical products. The Lek Group employs about 3850 people in various regions and achieved total sales of USD 694 million in 2003. For further information please consult http://www.lek.si.

Sandoz, a Novartis company, is a world leader in generic pharmaceuticals and develops, manufactures and markets these medicines as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological active ingredients. Decades of experience and profound know-how make Sandoz a renowned partner in the Pharmaceuticals, Biopharmaceuticals and Industrial Products Franchises. Altogether, Sandoz employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and posted sales of USD 2.9 billion in 2003.

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2003, the Group’s business achieved sales of USD 24.9 billion and a net income of USD 5.0 billion. The Group invested approximately USD 3.8 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 78 500 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For further information, please consult http://www.novartis.com.

This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements and conclusions” based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.

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    For further information contact: Katarina Klemenc Dinjaški Corporate Communications Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d. Phone: + 386 1 580 22 43 Fax: + 386 1 580 24 32 corporate.communications@lek.si