ALT Ishares Diversified Alternatives Trust

Alteon Announces New Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm PARSIPPANY, N.J., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alteon Inc. (AMEX:ALT) today announced the hiring of J.H. Cohn LLP as its new independent registered public accounting firm and auditors, effective August 26, 2004. Founded in 1919, J.H. Cohn is the 13th largest accounting firm in the United States and the largest regional firm in the Northeast, as well as the 4th largest accounting firm in New Jersey based on the number of professionals. The firm has over 90 partners and a staff of over 600 individuals located in offices in New York, New Jersey and California. "J.H. Cohn has a strong reputation within the accounting profession, and we are pleased to be entering into a relationship with them," said Kenneth I. Moch, Alteon's President and CEO. About Alteon Alteon is developing several new classes of drugs that reverse or slow down diseases of aging and complications of diabetes. These compounds have an impact on a fundamental pathological process caused by protein-glucose complexes called Advanced Glycation End-products (A.G.E.s). The formation and crosslinking of A.G.E.s lead to a loss of flexibility and function in body tissues, organs and vessels and have been shown to be a causative factor in many age-related diseases and diabetic complications. Alteon has created a library of novel classes of compounds targeting the A.G.E. Pathway. Alteon's lead compound alagebrium chloride (formerly ALT-711), the only A.G.E. Crosslink Breaker in advanced human testing, has demonstrated safety and efficacy in several Phase 2 trials and is actively being developed for systolic hypertension and heart failure. Ongoing clinical trials include SPECTRA (Systolic Pressure Efficacy and Safety Trial of Alagebrium) and PEDESTAL (Patients with Impaired Ejection Fraction and Diastolic Dysfunction: Efficacy and Safety Trial of ALagebrium). For more information on Alteon, visit the company's website at http://www.alteon.com/. Any statements contained in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, those relating to technology and product development (including the possibility that early clinical trial results may not be predictive of results that will be obtained in large-scale testing or that any clinical trials will not demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain requisite approvals or will not result in marketable products), regulatory approval processes, intellectual property rights and litigation, competitive products, ability to obtain financing, and other risks identified in Alteon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The information contained in this press release is accurate as of the date indicated. Actual results, events or performance may differ materially. Alteon undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. DATASOURCE: Alteon Inc. CONTACT: Susan M. Pietropaolo, Director, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations of Alteon, +1-201-818-5537 Web site: http://www.alteon.com/

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