Bubendorf, August 23, 2001

Bachem expects distinct increase in sales and operating results in 2001

Bachem AG (SWX: BANB) today announced interim results for the first six months of 2001.

		1. half-year 2001 (CHF m)		1. half-year 2000 (CHF m)		Difference (in CHF m)		Difference (in %)
Product sales		65.6		57.2		+8.4		+14.7
Operating results		21.7		25.6		-3.9		-15.2
Profit before taxes		23.3		34.2		-10.9		-31.9
Total shareholders' equity		289.4		258.8		+ 30.6		+ 11.8
Total liabilities and equity		333.0		299.8		+ 33.2		+ 11.1

Results
For the first six months of 2001, Bachem AG reports an increase in sales of 14.7% as compared to the same period last year. Including Sochinaz SA, acquired in April 2001, year-to-date sales reached CHF 65.6 million by June 30, 2001 (first half 2000: CHF 57.2 million). As expected and announced earlier this year, operating results and before-tax profit did not keep pace with sales development. While the acquisition of Sochinaz affected the structure of the income statement, specific events in the core business also affected operating results with a decrease of CHF 3.9 million, from CHF 25.6 million during the first half of 2000 to CHF 21.7 million during the same period this year. These events included the base effect of stock reduction by an important customer, as well as a delay in the delivery of finished goods that was already fully accounted for on the cost side. At the same time, the difficult capital markets situation had a negative impact on financial results, with before-tax profit clearly lagging behind last year's results.
Rolf Nyfeler, Chairman of the Executive Committee, nevertheless commented positively: "Operationally we are fully on track. Increased strength of our immunology business has shown first favorable results in the marketplace. The integration of Sochinaz is progressing according to plan, with the new business already contributing to the first-half results. We fully expect to see our recent investments paying off during the second half of this year. Overall, we anticipate a distinct improvement of all performance parameters."

Bachem reiterates its long-term objective of double-digit average yearly sales growth and anticipates that the second half of 2001 will, in contrast to last year, show significantly stronger performance than the first half. Consequently, operating results for the full business year 2001 are expected to significantly increase over 2000 results, bar any unforeseen events. As stated earlier, however, it is expected that sales growth will be stronger than the increase in operating results.

Projects
In order to secure future business opportunities, Bachem is involved in a large number of projects with third parties, targeted at the development of new peptide-based active ingredients and pharmaceuticals. Projects cover the full range of product development stages, from preclinical research to clinical phase III trials. Bachem, as the provider of the various peptide compounds, is partnering up with several well-known pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. While the breadth of activities opens up a multitude of opportunities, at the same time it represents a spread of risk, reducing the dependency of individual projects on business prospects. The exposure of Bachem to decisions of drug regulatory authorities consequently is significantly lower as compared to the one of the company applying for product approval.

Integration of Sochinaz
In April 2001, Bachem announced the acquisition of the Swiss-based Sochinaz SA. Sochinaz offers its own range of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry as well as additional growth potential, an ideal complement to the Bachem range of products. The acquisition also provides increased production capacities with significantly larger reactors, both ensuring Bachem's ability to meet the increasing demand from the marketplace in its core business and resulting in increased efficiencies in the production of large quantities of intermediates and active ingredients. Additional synergy potentials are currently under review. As compared to the Bachem core activities, the business of Sochinaz is characterized by higher material cost and lower personnel cost. During the first six months of 2001, Sochinaz performed well according to expectations on the basis of its established business and contributed positively to operating results.

Expansion of immunology business
The integration of the product range acquired with Peninsula Inc. into the existing offer of Bachem has been successfully completed. The comprehensive range of immunological products completes Bachem's offer to customers, making it possible to offer both the peptide and the corresponding antibody. Due to targeted marketing efforts such as a newly issued special catalogue, a first positive impact on sales could be observed.

About Bachem
Bachem AG is an independent, technology-based company specializing in the development of manufacturing processes for the production of innovative biochemical and pharmaceutical compounds. With headquarters in Switzerland and affiliates in Europe and the US, the Bachem Group works on a global scale and holds a leading position in its field.

For further information please contact:

Bachem AG
Mr. Jörg Stumpf, CFO
Hauptstrasse 144
CH-4416 Bubendorf
Telephone +41-61-935 23 33
Fax +41-61-935 23 24