August Watanabe, M.D., elected to Board of Directors of QuatRx Pharmaceuticals

[Released September 22, 2003]

Ann Arbor, MI—QuatRx Pharmaceuticals Company, a private biopharmaceutical development company focused on endocrine, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases, today announced that August Watanabe, M.D., has been elected to its board of directors, effective September 16, 2003.

Until his retirement from Eli Lilly and Company in June, Dr. Watanabe served as Executive Vice President, Science and Technology and President of Lilly Research Laboratories. He was also a member of Eli Lilly’s board of directors.

"I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Watanabe to our board of directors," said Robert L. Zerbe, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of QuatRx. "At Eli Lilly, Gus was instrumental in building an R&D organization and a research pipeline that are widely recognized to be among the world’s best. He brings highly valued leadership skills and a wealth of experience to our Company’s board. I have known and worked with him for years and am extremely confident that his contributions will be many and meaningful."

Dr. Watanabe joined Eli Lilly in 1990 as a Vice President of Lilly Research Laboratories. He was named President of Lilly Research Laboratories in 1994 and promoted to executive Vice President of Science and Technology in 1996. Dr. Watanabe was a full-time faculty member of the department of medicine of Indiana University School of Medicine from 1972 to 1990 when he joined Lilly. From 1983 to 1990, he was Professor and Chairman of the department of internal medicine. During his academic career, Dr. Watanabe co-authored more than 100 scientific publications and book chapters and served on the editorial boards of scholarly journals and as an officer in several national academic organizations, including the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He also served as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Public Health Service’s National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Watanabe is a director of Guidant Corporation; the Indiana University Foundation; the Regenstrief Foundation, Inc.; the Indiana State Symphony Society; and Christel House. He is a member of the board of governors of the Riley Children’s Foundation and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians. He is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honorary society. He is a past hairman of the executive committee of the science and regulatory section of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Dr. Watanabe received a bachelor of science degree in zoology from Wheaton College in 1963. He received his doctor of medicine degree in 1967 from the Indiana University School of Medicine, where he then served his residency in internal medicine. He did additional postgraduate work in clinical pharmacology at the Laboratory of Clinical Science of the National Institute of Mental Health and in cardiology at Indiana University Medical Center.

About QuatRx

QuatRx Pharmaceuticals is a private biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. QuatRx is developing novel compounds beginning in the late preclinical stage, through the completion of phase II clinical studies. The Company’s therapeutic focus is on endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and dermatology. Compounds are being acquired from a variety of sources, including other biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions and large pharmaceutical companies.

QuatRx’s founding venture capital partners are Frazier Healthcare Ventures, based in Seattle, WA, and TL Ventures, located in Wayne, PA. The Company’s recent Series C financing was lead by MPM Capital L.P., and included Frazier Healthcare Ventures, TL Ventures and InterWest Partners. All of these partners have extensive experience in forming and financing emerging biopharmaceutical companies.

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