Abstract Presented Today at the American Heart Association Annual Meeting

South San Francisco, CA - November 15, 2000 - Data from a study conducted using FibroGen's proprietary Prolyl Hydroxylase (P4H) Inhibitor will be presented today at the 73rd Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. The presentation entitled "Inhibition of Myocardial Fibrosis Improves Survival and Prevents Progression of Heart Failure After Myocardial Infarction" will be given at 11:15 am during the Cytoskeleton and Extracellular Matrix II Session. The study was co-authored by FibroGen and researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The research was based on clinical observations relating to changes within the heart after heart attack or Myocardial Infarction (MI). Researchers utilized a rat model of coronary artery occlusion and randomized animals to treatment with FibroGen's proprietary P4H inhibitor or treatment with a placebo. After four weeks of treatment both collagen deposition and mortality were significantly reduced in the P4H treatment arm; mortality in the treatment arm was reported as 9% versus a mortality rate of 39% in the nontreatment arm. These data suggest that post-MI collagen deposition may impose restrictions on the normal systolic activity of the heart and the further conclusion that treatment with FibroGen's proprietary P4H inhibitor prevents dilation by controlling collagen formation and improves the mortality rate following MI.

"We are enthusiastic about the data we are reporting today. If these data can be confirmed through studies with larger animals, then they have real potential to change our thinking regarding post-MI therapeutic strategies," said Peter Buttrick, MD, of the University of Illinois and senior author of the study.

Congestive Heart Failure Post-MI

MI and high blood pressure are two of the major causes of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Each year there are an estimated 400,000 new cases of CHF and over one million cases of new or recurrent MIs. In the US, CHF is a significant and rapidly growing cause of patient mortality as it commonly results in the remodeling of the cardiac tissue. This remodeling is caused by increased collagen concentration and fibrosis (scarring) of the heart and it leads to a reduction in the hearts ability to pump and circulate blood. An estimated 4.8 million Americans have CHF and half of the patients diagnosed with CHF are expected to die within five years of diagnosis.

FibroGen, Inc.

FibroGen, Inc., has leveraged its expertise in extracellular matrix biology by achieving the only commercially viable method known to produce human collagen and human gelatin in recombinant systems. FibroGen will exploit this technology by becoming both a bulk product supplier for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries as well as a developer and commercializer of injectable products, wound management products, and gelatin stabilizers. Additionally, FibroGen has unique therapeutic programs focusing on the development of therapies to treat fibrosis, excessive scarring, tissue regeneration, and fibroproliferative disorders including angiogenesis and squamous cell carcinoma.

FibroGen's corporate collaborations include a partnership with Taisho Pharmaceutical Company of Japan to discover and develop human monoclonal antibody therapeutics for renal fibrosis and chronic transplant rejection, as well as a joint collaboration with ZymoGenetics, for the development of fully recombinant hemostats and resorbable tissue sealants utilizing FibroGen's recombinant collagen. Additionally, FibroGen has over 20 active agreements with leading pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers for development or feasibility testing of the Company's recombinant human collagens or gelatin as replacement components for animal-sourced materials within in-market and R&D stage products.

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.