Pedro R. Urquilla, M.D., Named Vice President, Medical Affairs, FibroGen, Inc.

South San Francisco, April 23, 2002 - FibroGen, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company, announced today that Pedro R. Urquilla, M.D., has joined its executive management team as Vice President, Medical Affairs.

"We're very pleased to have a professional of Pedro Urquilla's stature on the FibroGen executive team," said Thomas B. Neff, President and Chief Executive Officer of FibroGen. "Dr. Urquilla brings knowledge, experience, and a solid track record of successful interactions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with European regulatory agencies. The depth of his experience in fibrosis research, as related to coronary disease, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke, will be key to our growth, as we continue to research numerous fibrotic indications. We look forward to his expertise in directing business and scientific operations."

In his new role, Dr. Urquilla will oversee the preparation and implementation of clinical development plans and set the direction necessary for upcoming Investigational New Drug Application (IND) filings.

Most recently, Dr. Urquilla was an industry consultant to Cell Genesys, Inc., XOMA Ltd., GenVec, Inc., and SRI International, with a therapeutic focus in the areas of oncology, autoimmune disorders and age-related macular degeneration. Prior to that, Dr. Urquilla served as Director of Clinical Science / Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Medical Affairs, at Genentech.

Dr. Urquilla also worked at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was the Director, Cardiology, in the Department of Clinical Research. Prior to that, he held similar positions at Pfizer, Inc. and Bristol-Myers.

Dr. Urquilla received his M.D. and B.S. (premedical) at University of El Salvador School of Medicine, El Salvador, Central America. He completed post-graduate training at Tulane Medical School, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; West Virginia University Medical Center, Morgantown, WV; and the United States Public Health Service, Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pharmacology.

About FibroGen, Inc.

FibroGen, Inc., is a private biotechnology company developing novel drugs to arrest fibrosis and scarring in chronic conditions, such as lung fibrosis, scleroderma, liver fibrosis, and surgical adhesions, and in acute conditions, such as dermal scarring and reactive fibrosis following heart attack, as well as fibrotic complications of diabetes, for which there are no known therapies today.

Additionally, leveraging its knowledge of extracellular matrix biology, FibroGen has developed the only known commercially viable methods for production of recombinant human collagens and gelatins, including the production of specifically designed synthetic gelatins based on particular portions of collagen molecules, for pharmaceutical, medical device, and many other markets, offering replacements for the animal carcass-derived materials currently available.