Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Announces Planned Expense Reduction Conference Call Scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EDT KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MICU; Nuovo Mercato), today announced details of its plan to reduce operating expenses in light of the delay in the launch of its lead antifungal product anidulafungin. The company will decrease 2004 operating expenses by over $25 million and reduce operating expenses by an additional $25 million in 2005 through a combination of operational and headcount related measures. "We have begun ongoing discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what is required to obtain approval for anidulafungin," said George F. Horner III, Vicuron's president and chief executive officer. "In the meantime, we believe the measures we have outlined allow Vicuron to conserve cash and to focus on driving both anidulafungin and dalbavancin toward market." 2004 and 2005 Financial Guidance For the 2004 fiscal year, Vicuron now anticipates a net loss of $87 - $92 million. For the 2005 fiscal year, Vicuron expects to report a net loss of $65 - $70 million. Conference Call Information Vicuron will host a conference call today, June 24, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To access the live call or the 14-day archive via the Internet, log on to http://www.vicuron.com/. Please connect to Vicuron's website at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be needed to access the webcast. Alternatively, please call 1-800-915-4836 (U.S.) or 1-973-317-5319 (international) to listen to the call. Telephone replay will be available beginning approximately one hour after the call through June 25, 2004. To access the replay, please call 1-800-428-6051 (U.S.) or 1-973-709-2089 (international). The conference ID number is 362132. About Vicuron Vicuron Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing vital medicine for seriously ill patients in North America and major countries in Europe. The company's lead product, anidulafungin is under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company's other lead product, dalbavancin, a novel intravenous antibiotic for the treatment of serious Gram-positive infections, is in Phase III clinical trials. The company's versatile research engine integrates industry-leading expertise in functional genomics, natural products discovery, mechanism-based drug design and combinatorial and medicinal chemistry. These approaches are yielding promising novel and next-generation compounds, many of which are in the later stages of preclinical development. In addition, the company has research and development collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and Novartis. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements that predict or describe future events or trends. The matters described in these forward- looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Vicuron's control. Vicuron faces many risks that could cause its actual performance to differ materially from the results predicted by its forward-looking statements, including the possibilities that clinical trials and the results thereof might be delayed, that the timing of the filing of any new drug application might be delayed, that subsequent clinical trials might indicate that a product candidate is unsafe or ineffective, that any filed new drug application may not be approved, that ongoing proprietary and collaborative research might not occur or yield useful results, that a third party may not be willing to license our product candidates on terms acceptable to us or at all, that competitors might develop superior substitutes for their products or market them more effectively, that a sales force may not be developed as contemplated, that one or more of its product candidates may not be commercialized successfully, that operating may be able to be reduced by the amounts described or at all and that the net loss for a particular period may be greater than expected. The reports that Vicuron files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission contain a fuller description of these and many other risks to which Vicuron is subject. Because of those risks, Vicuron's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from the results, performance or achievements contemplated by its forward- looking statement. The information set forth in this news release represents management's current expectations and intentions. Vicuron assumes no responsibility to issue updates to the forward-looking matters discussed in this news release. DATASOURCE: Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. CONTACT: Dov A. Goldstein, M.D. of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., +1-610-205-2312, or ; or Hala Bashir of WeissCom Partners, +1-212-204-2080, or ; or Aline Schimmel of Burns McClellan, +1-212-213-0006, or , both for Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. Web site: http://www.vicuron.com/

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