Novartis to Acquire Majority Stake in Hard to Treat Diseases' (HTDS.PK) China Subsidiary H1N1 Vaccine Partner for US$125 Million

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Mon Nov 9, 2009 2:30pm EST

Novartis to Acquire Majority Stake in Hard to Treat Diseases' (HTDS.PK) China
Subsidiary H1N1 Vaccine Partner for US$125 Million

SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Hard To Treat Diseases
(HTDS.PK) www.htdsmedical.com, announced today that Novartis, a US$41 billion
international healthcare company, is acquiring an 85% stake in HTDS' H1N1
Vaccine partner, Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., for US$125
million. Novartis of Switzerland will begin a five-year, $1 billionChina
initiative with two aims: the company will dramatically increase its
investment in its China R&D facility, and it will seek to make China one its
top three markets worldwide. The comments were made by Novartis' CEO, Daniel
Vasella, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.chinabiotoday.com/articles/20091103_1
HTDS' Chinese subsidiary, Mellow Hope, is the exclusive agent of Zhejiang
Tianyuan Bio-pharmaceutical for International marketing and sales. Zhejiang
Tianyuan Bio-pharmaceutical has been granted a H1N1 license on September 24,
2009 by the Chinese government agency, SFDA.
Terry Yuan, HTDS' President/CEO said "We believe that when you start to
appreciate what Novartis' commitment to our partner in China fully means, and
the see the large financial commitment to our partner just for the China
market, you can begin to appreciate the enormous value to HTDS of our
exclusive international marketing and sales relationship with Zhejiang
Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical. Further, the more you appreciate this value, the
more you will find yourself understanding our value to them when they
appointed us exclusive agent for international marketing and sales. As Mellow
Hope owns all of registrations, clinical trials and brands for Zhejiang
Tianyuan's international markets, the new Novartis-Zhejiang-Tianyuan entity
will continue to leverage our assets and expertise in its international
market. The Novartis purchase was announced by Novartis-Zhejiang-Tianyuan on
November 4, 2009 (see link below)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/novartis-to-buy-85-of-chinese-vaccines-producer-2009-11-04?siteid=yhoof2.
HTDS management, elected not to release this immediately, to allow the HTDS
management and its advisors to digest and analyse the long term effects of
this transaction for HTDS. HTDS management is very optimistic and foresees its
relationship and business with Zhejiang Tianyuan will only be further
strengthened by the participation of Novartis."
Novartis reports that it has made the purchase of a majority interest in
Zhejiang Tianyuan through proposed acquisition of a majority stake for US$125
million to expand its human vaccines presence in China. Zhejiang Tianyuan is a
privately-held vaccines company providing a competitive product portfolio and
pipeline in China, where Novartis has a limited vaccines presence. Tianyuan
and Novartis are to collaborate on building a vaccines industry leader
targeting unmet medical needs in China, the world's third-largest vaccines
market. Acquisition of 85% stake in Tianyuan for approximately US$125 million
will require Chinese regulatory and government approvals.

Tianyuan is a privately-owned vaccine company offering a range of marketed
vaccine products in China and R&D projects focused on various preventable
viral and bacterial diseases. Tianyuan has been delivering dynamic and
profitable growth, having more than doubled its net sales to approximately
US$25 million in 2008.

About Hard To Treat Diseases (HTDS)

HTDS operates 2 medical subsidiaries in Mainland China (Mellow Hope)
www.mellowhope.com and Serbia, Europe (Slavica Bio Chem.)
(www.slavicabiochem.com)
Mellow Hope is China-based and the biggest exporter of Biological Vaccines in
China. It has a product line that encompasses vaccines for influenza, tetanus,
diphtheria and other diseases; Blood based products including human rabies
immunoglobulin; and active pharmaceutical ingredient (or APIs) for injection
such as celesta in.
In Serbia the company's primary focus involves the enhancement and
modification of existing approved drugs such as "Virazole" for the purpose of
chemical repair of damage to the CNS (central nervous system), MS (Multiple
Sclerosis), SARS, Hepatitis C and HIV.
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Inc. is not a guarantee of future performance. None of the information in this
press release constitutes or is intended as an offer to sell securities or
investment advice of any kind. Hard to Treat Diseases Inc.'s actual results
may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
statements as a result of various important factors, some of which are beyond
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to Treat Diseases Inc.'s press releases, public filings, and statements by
Hard to Treat Diseases Inc.'s management, including, but not limited to, Hard
to Treat Diseases Inc.'s estimate of the sufficiency of its existing capital
resources, Hard to Treat Diseases Inc.'s ability to raise additional capital
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opportunities, and in identifying contracts which match Hard to Treat Diseases
Inc.'s capability to be awarded contracts. All such forward-looking statements
are current only as of the date on which such statements were made. Hard to
Treat Diseases Inc. does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on
which any such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.

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SOURCE  Hard to Treat Diseases

For medical and scientific dialogue inquiry only, please contact
medicalinfo@htdsmedical.com; For any corporate matters, please contact
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please contact www.minamargroup.net/helpdesk, (IR); For (M&A) and Corporate
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