TAP PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS AMONG FIRST TO ADOPT PHRMA MARKETING CODE OF ETHICS

LAKE FOREST, Ill., June 13, 2002 - TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. announced today the adoption of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals. The Code, which has a voluntary industry-wide implementation date of July 1, is designed to govern the pharmaceutical industry's relationships with physicians and other health care professionals. It ensures that interactions between pharmaceutical companies and health care professionals will solely benefit patients and enhance the practice of medicine.

"The immediate adoption of PhRMA's Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals underscores TAP's strong support for re-focusing our industry on science and education," said Thomas Watkins, president of TAP. "This Code builds upon TAP's commitment to integrity and compliments our existing Ethics and Compliance Program. Compliance and integrity processes continue to be a top priority for TAP."

Implemented under the direction of L. Stephan Vincze, TAP's ethics and compliance officer, the Code compliments TAP's existing ethical framework for a host of activities engaged in by TAP. These activities include informing health care professionals about the benefits and risks of its products; providing scientific and educational information; supporting medical research and education; and obtaining feedback and advice about our products through consultation with medical experts.

Specifically, the Code prohibits marketing practices that neither benefit patients nor assist a doctor's practice. Incentives offered to doctors and their practices are required to serve a necessary purpose of educating doctors about products. This requirement preserves the independence of a health care professional's decision on how best to prescribe medications and provide care to patients.

"TAP's adoption of this Code is part of its ongoing effort to advance the company's Ethics and Compliance Program," says Vincze. "TAP's overall goal is to become and remain a leader in this critically important area of health care."

The Code further strengthens TAP's sales and marketing practices by establishing distinct lines of ethical conduct. Many of these guidelines were adopted by TAP in the past and are an integral part of TAP's own Code of Business Conduct. Outside of TAP's sales and marketing teams, this Code applies to all aspects of TAP's corporate structure and makes certain that every TAP employee is focused on providing the highest quality medicine and information to health care professionals and their patients.

About TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc.

TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., located in Lake Forest, Ill., is a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories, headquartered in Abbott Park, Ill., and Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. of Osaka, Japan. TAP currently markets Lupron Depot® (leuprolide acetate for depot suspension), PREVACID® (lansoprazole) and Spectracef® (cefditoren pivoxil). For more information about TAP and its products, visit the company's Web site at www.tap.com.

About The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The industry invested more than $30 billion in 2001 in discovering and developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.