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Eckert & Ziegler: Successful launch of radiopharmaceutical production in Milan

Berlin, 8 August 2005. f-con Pharma Italia s.r.l., a subsidiary of the Berlin-based company Eckert & Ziegler AG (ISIN DE0005659700), launched the production of radioactive contrast media for cancer diagnoses a few days ago at a newly established production facility in Milan. In addition to Germany and Luxemburg, Italy is now the third EU country in which Eckert & Ziegler supplies radiopharmaceutical products to specialists in nuclear medicine. At facilities in Berlin-Adlershof, Eckert & Ziegler had already started producing weakly radioactive glucose for cancer diagnostics in the spring of this year. With the acquisition of f-con Europe GmbH (renamed Eckert & Ziegler f-con Europe GmbH), the Group has recently expanded its activities in this sector Germany-wide.

Production in Milan is based on cooperation between the Italian subsidiary of Eckert & Ziegler AG and the local university hospital (Policlinico di Milano), and is considered a sterling example of cooperation between public and private institutions for the supply of short-lived radioisotopes. Worldwide demand for these preparations as the basic substance for so-called positron emission tomography (PET) has reached a volume of more than 400 million EUR in recent years. The use of these innovative substances is still not widespread in Europe, and particularly not in Germany, but is showing double-digit annual growth rates. Eckert & Ziegler AG is already represented on the market with a series of other isotope technology products for quality assurance, and plans to expand its activities in this area.

The Board of Directors