South San Francisco, CA - May 17, 2000 - FibroGen, Inc. presents today at the Sixth Annual World BioMaterials Conference in Kamuela, Hawaii. FibroGen's Vice President of Collagen Development, James W. Polarek, Ph.D., will speak at the conference on the uses of recombinant collagen. The Company also has an abstract featured at the meeting.

Dr. Polarek's presentation, "Use of Recombinant Human Collagen as a Biomaterial," is intended as a primer for conference attendees on the advantages and benefits of synthetic collagens and gelatin. Dr. Polarek will discuss the technology behind FibroGen's recombinant collagens and gelatins and how this technology will enable companies to incorporate well-characterized, reproducible, human sequenced collagens and gelatins into their products.

FibroGen's collagens and gelatins are an alternative to the animal and human cadaver-derived products currently in use worldwide. Initially, FibroGen is offering two of the 20 known human collagens through its web site: type I collagen and type III collagen. FibroGen has also developed numerous feasibility assessment partnerships with pharmaceutical and medical device companies having significant collagen/gelatin utilization in order to promote awareness and adoption of recombinant products.

Dr. Polarek's presentation also introduces FibroGen's latest research in the area of Specific Molecular Type (SMT) gelatin fragments. The Company believes that utilization of SMT fragments by manufacturers of gelatin-based products will enable enhancements of those current products' performance and stability attributes. FibroGen's recombinant gelatin will also allow users the ability to fully characterize their products for the first time.

"Exploiting the biologic activity of specific gelatin fragments may be the key to producing the next generation of medical devices such as stents and bone replacements, as well as extending the shelf life and enhancing the performance of live attenuated virus vaccines," said Dr. Polarek. "For example, the appropriate SMT gelatin fragment used as a stent coating may be able to prevent the blood clots caused by thrombogenic agents contained in current products for device coating."

Recombinant Human Collagen III as Biomaterial for Hemostatic Applications

FibroGen will also present an abstract describing the superior hemostatic ability of FibroGen's type III recombinant human collagen compared to bovine type I collagen when used in medical devices such as tissue sealants, hemostats and vascular sealants. FibroGen's results demonstrate a reduction in bleeding time by 60% over bovine type I collagen. Collagen and gelatin from bovine sources are components in nearly all hemostats sold wolrdwide. Currently, medical device and tissue sealant manufacturers are limited to using type I collagen in their product because of the difficulty in extracting collagen III from animal sources. The data will be presented by lead author, Chunlin Yang, Ph.D., of FibroGen.

Each year over 250,000 metric tons of animal-derived collagen and gelatin are used as components in many common products including: medical devices and their coatings; encapsulation of pharmaceuticals; vaccine stabilizers; wine; ice cream; cosmetics, such as lipstick; film; semi-conductors and water purifiers. The animal-derived components cause concern for regulatory bodies worldwide as these products are produced from slaughterhouse remnants of cows and pigs. Remnants from diseased animals have been implicated as the likely source of Mad Cow Disease (or its human variant, Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease), contamination that has been linked to the deaths of at least 40 people throughout Europe.

FibroGen Presents the Advantages of Synthetic Collagens and Gelatin at World BioMaterials Conference
May 17, 2000

FibroGen, Inc. has leveraged its expertise and intellectual property by creating a business model driven by the near-term market introduction of recombinant collagens and gelatins with longer-term drug development programs addressing major unmet medical needs in dermal scarring, deep organ fibrosis and tissue regeneration. Current corporate collaborations include an agreement with Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. of Japan to develop novel therapeutics to prevent scarring and eventual loss of kidney function, a leading cause of death among patients with diabetes. More information on FibroGen is available at the corporate web site http://www.fibrogen.com. FibroGen Europe Ltd., headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is a subsidiary of FibroGen, Inc., South San Francisco, California.

Customers interested in purchasing FibroGen's products should log-on to FibroGen's website at www.fibrogen.com and select "Reagents." Customers without web access may contact the Company's Reagent Sales Customer Service Department at 1 800-720-7203. FibroGen's current products are intended for laboratory research purposes only and are not to be used in humans.