Commencement of activities for Children's Week

Everything starts out small – exhibition of children's artwork at the Lek Gallery

  • Exhibition by young artists at the Lek Gallery commences activities for Children’s Week
  • Exhibition for Children’s Week prepared by children and teachers at the Lek kindergarten for the third year in a row.
  • Lek earmarks 17,000 euros for activities of the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association in 2008, over 150,000 euros in nearly 10 years of cooperation
30. 9. 2008

This afternoon the Lek Gallery opened an exhibition of children’s artwork titled “Everything Starts Out Small,” which the young artists also accompanied with singing and dancing. For the third year in a row, the exhibition marks Children’s Week, and is held at the beginning of October by the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association, with financial support from Lek. It is put on by children and teachers from the Lek kindergarten.

This year the children sought inspiration for their art in nature, and once again showed that children’s creativity knows no bounds. 45 children aged from 11 months to six years old drew, painted and carved. They produced 87 unique works of art using two different techniques: drawing in clay and painting with clay. Through their creative endeavors the children discovered how a natural material such as clay can be used in several ways. The artworks they created will be on display until October 10, 2008.

On the opening of the exhibition Lek will donate 17,000 euros to the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association (SFYA) for carrying out the SFYA’s activities in 2008. Lek has been a partner of the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association for nearly 10 years and supports many of its activities intended for children and youths. It has participated in the “Wink at the Sun” fund-raising campaign since its very beginning in 1999, making free holidays possible for many children who might otherwise not be able to enjoy them. In addition to its financial investment, each year Lek also holds the entertaining Sunshine Games for the children on holiday. In the past ten years Lek has earmarked over 150,000 euros for children’s holidays, Children’s Week and the activities of the SFYA.

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Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the pillars of leading world generics company Sandoz. It operates as a global development center for products and technologies, as a global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines, as a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products, as a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilars and as a supply center for the markets of CEE, SEE and CIS, sales Slovenia and sales services for Sandoz global markets. Lek d.d. employs more than 3,000 people. For further information please consult http://www.lek.si

Sandoz, a Division of the Novartis group, is a global leader in the field of generic pharmaceuticals, offering a wide array of high-quality, affordable products that are no longer protected by patents. Sandoz has a portfolio of more than 950 compounds and sells its products in more than 130 countries. Key product groups include antibiotics, treatments for central nervous system disorders, gastrointestinal medicines, cardiovascular treatments and hormone therapies. Sandoz develops, produces and markets these medicines along with pharmaceutical and biotechnological active substances and anti-infectives. In addition to strong organic growth in recent years, Sandoz has made a series of acquisitions including Lek (Slovenia), Sabex (Canada), Hexal (Germany) and EonLabs (US) In 2007, Sandoz employed around 23,000 people worldwide and posted sales of USD 7.2 billion.

Novartis AG provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on growth areas in healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, and consumer health products. Novartis is the only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2007, the Group’s continuing operations (excluding divestments in 2007) achieved net sales of USD 38.1 billion and net income of USD 6.5 billion. Approximately USD 6.4 billion was invested in R&D activities throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 98,200 full-time associates and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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This press release contains 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

communications.lek@sandoz.com