ACTELION N : proposes expansion of its Board of Directors

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Annual General Meeting of Actelion Shareholders to be held in Basel
on 24 April 2009



ALLSCHWIL/BASEL, SWITZERLAND -  27 March  2009 -  Actelion Ltd  (SIX:
ATLN) today announced that its Board of Directors proposes three  new
Board members  at  the  upcoming Annual  General  Meeting.  Andre  J.
Mueller, one  of  Actelion's  five  founding  members  and  currently
Vice-Chairman  of  Actelion  and  Head  of  the  Finance  and   Audit
Committee, has decided not  to seek a new  mandate for reason of  his
gradual transition into full retirement.

Jean-Paul Clozel, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Actelion,  company
founder and a member of the Board of Actelion, commented: "Andre  has
contributed  tremendously  to  the   success  of  Actelion.  He   was
instrumental  in  gaining  outside  financing  for  Actelion  in  its
founding days. As  the company's  first Chief  Financial Officer,  he
focused on developing both strong  financial reporting systems and  a
company culture  driven  by  value  creation  for  all  stakeholders,
patients and shareholders alike. We at  Actelion are all in his  debt
and wish him all the best for his future."

To fill  the  open position  on  the  Board, the  Actelion  Board  of
Directors proposes the  candidacy of  Dr. Michael  Jacobi who  served
until 2007 as  Chief Financial  Officer of  Ciba Specialty  Chemicals
Inc. He is a member of several Boards of Directors, including  Sonova
where he also serves as the Head of the Finance and Audit Committee.

The Actelion Board  of Directors  also proposes  expanding the  Board
with the addition of  two further positions.  To these positions  the
Board proposes the candidacy of:

Joseph C. Scodari, who served until March 2008 as Worldwide  Chairman
Pharmaceuticals, member  of  the Executive  Committee  and  Corporate
Officer of Johnson & Johnson, brings with him a distinguished  global
business career in the pharmaceutical industry that spanned more than
30 years. As  president and  CEO of Centocor,  he gained  significant
experience in  managing the  growth  of an  innovative  biotechnology
company. He has also served as vice-chairman on the Board of BIO, the
US biotechnology association, with more than 1'000 members.

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. who served until October 2008 as the Director
of the US National  Institutes of Health  (NIH), the world's  leading
public health agency with more than 18'000 employees. The NIH mission
is to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that  improve
people's health and save lives. In addition to his career as a  world
expert in  public  health  matters,  Dr.  Zerhouni,  a  distinguished
scientist with more than 200 publications, is a Professor of Medicine
at the John Hopkins University (Baltimore) and a senior fellow at the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rob Cawthorn, Chairman  of Actelion's Board  of Directors  commented:
"It speaks  to  Actelions'  reputation for  innovation  that  we  can
attract highly qualified experts  to serve as  new board members.  In
the  coming  years,  Actelion  is  poised  to  turn  innovation  into
medicines that can positively affect patient outcomes and quality  of
life.  The  addition  of   three  board  members,  with   significant
experience in  supervising and  guiding  the related  value  creation
process, will allow the  Board of Directors  to provide the  required
strategic guidance to enable Actelion to fulfill its potential."

The  invitation  to  the  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  Actelion
Shareholders with all proposal  put forward to Actelion  shareholders
is available on www.actelion.com.

                                 ###

Notes to the editor

About the  proposed  three  new  members of  the  Actelion  Board  of
Directors

Dr. Michael Jacobi
Dr. Michael Jacobi, a German citizen, was Chief Financial Officer  at
Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc. from 1996 until 2007. Dr. Jacobi joined
the Ciba  Group  in  1978 and  subsequently  held  various  executive
positions in the financial area in Switzerland, Brazil and the U.S.

Since 2003, Dr.  Jacobi serves on  the Board of  Directors of  Sonova
Holding AG, formerly Phonak AG, since  2004 as the Head of the  Audit
Committee. Sonova, located in Staefa/Zurich, is a leading provider of
innovative hearing  healthcare solutions  and  the market  leader  in
wireless   communication   systems   for   audiology    applications.
Furthermore, Dr. Jacobi serves on the Board of Directors of Hilti  AG
since  2007.  Hilti,  located  in  Schaan  (Liechtenstein),  provides
leading-edge technology to  the global  construction industry.  Since
2008, Dr. Jacobi is  also a member  of the Board  of Trustees of  the
Martin Hilti Family Trust.

Dr. Jacobi  received  a  PhD  in  Business  Administration  from  the
University of St.  Gallen (HSG), St.  Gallen, Switzerland,  continued
his studies  at  the  University of  Washington,  Seattle,  USA,  and
completed a Program  for Management Development  at Harvard  Business
School, Boston, USA.

Joseph C. Scodari
Joseph C.  Scodari, a  citizen of  the U.S.,  was Worldwide  Chairman
Pharmaceuticals, member  of  the Executive  Committee  and  Corporate
Officer of Johnson & Johnson from February 2005 until March 2008. Mr.
Scodari joined Johnson &  Johnson in 1999  as President of  Centocor,
Inc. when Johnson &  Johnson acquired Centocor. At  the time of  that
acquisition, he had been the President and Chief Operating Officer of
Centocor and a member of Centocor's Board of Directors since December
1997. In 2001, he was named Company Group Chairman for the Johnson  &
Johnson North American pharmaceutical  business, and became a  member
of the Pharmaceuticals  Group Operating Committee  and, in 2003,  was
named Company Group Chairman, Global Biopharmaceutical Businesses.

Prior to  his appointment  at  Centocor and  Johnson &  Johnson,  Mr.
Scodari was  Senior Vice  President, General  Manager -  Americas  at
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer  Pharmaceuticals Inc.  and previously  served  in
various executive positions at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Sterling  Drug
Inc.

From 2003 to 2007,  Mr. Scodari served on  the Board of Directors  of
the Biotechnology Industry  Organization (BIO)  in Washington,  D.C.,
and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board and Member of the  Executive
Committee from 2007  until February  2008. BIO  represents more  than
1,000   biotechnology   companies,   academic   institutions,   state
biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states
and 33 other nations.  BIO members are involved  in the research  and
development   of   health   care,   agricultural,   industrial    and
environmental biotechnology products.

Mr. Scodari  received a  Bachelor's of  Arts degree  from  Youngstown
State University, Youngstown, Ohio.

Elias A. Zerhouni, MD
Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, a citizen  of the U.S., served as Director  of
the US  National  Institutes of  Health  (NIH) from  May  2002  until
October 2008. He was nominated by the President of the United  States
in March 2002 and confirmed by the US Senate in April 2002.

The  National  Institutes  of  Health  (NIH),  a  part  of  the  U.S.
Department of  Health  and Human  Services,  is the  primary  Federal
agency for  conducting and  supporting medical  research. Helping  to
lead the  way  toward  important  medical  discoveries  that  improve
people's health and  save lives, NIH  scientists investigate ways  to
prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for
common and rare diseases.

From 1978 until  2002, Dr.  Elias A. Zerhouni  held various  academic
appointments at  The  John  Hopkins University  School  of  Medicine,
Baltimore,  Maryland,  USA.  In  1992,  he  was  named  Professor  of
Radiology at The John Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1995,
Professor  Zerhouni  was  additionally  appointed  as  Professor   of
Biomedical Engineering  at The  John  Hopkins University.  He  became
Director of  the  Russell  H.  Morgan  Department  of  Radiology  and
Radiological  Science  at  The  John  Hopkins  University  School  of
Medicine in 1996.  Concurrently, he  served as  Executive Vice  Dean,
Vice  Dean  for  Clinical  Affairs  and  President  of  the   Faculty
Association at the John Hopkins  University School of Medicine.  From
1999 until 2002, he served as  Executive Vice Dean and Vice Dean  for
Research at the  John Hopkins  University School  of Medicine  before
being named to the directorship of the NIH.

Professor Zerhouni  received  a  M.D. degree  at  the  University  of
Algiers School  of Medicine  in  Algeria in  1975 and  continued  his
studies at the Department of Radiology at The John Hopkins University
School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Professor Zerhouni is the author of over 212 publications and holds 8
patents. He has received multiple  awards and honors. He was  elected
to the Institute of Medicine of  the US National Academy of  Sciences
in 2000.

Professor Zerhouni  is currently  a  senior fellow  at the  Bill  and
Melinda Gates Foundation and has returned to his professorship at The
John Hopkins University. He  is a consultant  and serves on  multiple
boards, such  as the  Lasker Foundation,  the Mayo  Clinic,  Research
America Board  and  the Board  of  the King  Abdallah  University  of
Sciences and Technology.

Actelion Ltd
Actelion Ltd  is  a  biopharmaceutical  company  with  its  corporate
headquarters in Allschwil/Basel,  Switzerland. Actelion's first  drug
Tracleer®, an orally available  dual endothelin receptor  antagonist,
has been approved as a  therapy for pulmonary arterial  hypertension.
Actelion markets  Tracleer®  through  its  own  subsidiaries  in  key
markets worldwide, including  the United States  (based in South  San
Francisco),  the  European  Union,   Japan,  Canada,  Australia   and
Switzerland. Actelion, founded in late  1997, is a leading player  in
innovative science related to the  endothelium - the single layer  of
cells separating every blood vessel from the blood stream. Actelion's
over  2'000  employees  focus  on  the  discovery,  development   and
marketing of innovative  drugs for significant  unmet medical  needs.
Actelion shares are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker  symbol:
ATLN) as part of  the Swiss blue-chip index  SMI (Swiss Market  Index
SMI® )

For further information please contact:
Roland Haefeli
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Public Affairs
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Gewerbestrasse 16, CH-4123 Allschwil
[phone]
[phone]
http://www.actelion.com


 
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Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Gewerbestrasse 16 Allschwil 
Switzerland

WKN: 936767; ISIN: CH0010532478; Index: SBIOM, SLIFE, SMCI, SMIEXP, 
SMIM, SPI, SPIEX;
Listed: Main Market in SIX Swiss Exchange;
http://hugin.info/131801/R/1301120/297369.pdf


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