Biodel Announces Retirement of Dr. Solomon Steiner as Chief Scientific Officer

DANBURY, Conn., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biodel Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOD) announced today the retirement of Dr. Solomon Steiner as the company's Chief Scientific Officer.  Dr. Steiner is a co-founder of Biodel and will remain a member of the company's board of directors.  He served as Biodel's chairman, president and chief executive officer from its founding in December 2003 until March 2010 when Dr. Errol De Souza was named the company's president and chief executive officer and Dr. Charles Sanders was named board chairman.  

"In 2003, I started Biodel with a vision of making a difference in patients' lives," said Dr. Steiner.  "Over the course of seven years I have had the privilege of assembling a talented scientific team and working with them to create a portfolio of product candidates which continues to grow.  I am confident that with Errol De Souza's leadership this team will be able to bring these important innovations to market for the benefit of patients everywhere.  I look forward to continuing to advise Biodel as a member of the Board of Directors."

"On behalf of the Board, we accept Sol's decision to retire with understanding and enormous gratitude," said Dr. Errol De Souza, Chief Executive Officer of Biodel.  "We are grateful to Sol for his leadership, inspiration and guidance and remain committed to his mission of developing novel drug therapies to treat diabetes and other diseases.  During his tenure, Sol has produced a broad pipeline of product candidates which have tremendous potential to improve patients' lives.  I am pleased that he will remain a member of our board of directors to help guide and build our company."

About Biodel Inc.

Biodel Inc. is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative treatments for diabetes that may be safer, more effective and more convenient for patients. We develop our product candidates by applying our proprietary formulation technologies to existing drugs in order to improve their therapeutic profiles.  For further information regarding Biodel, please visit the company's website at www.biodel.com.

Safe-Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements include statements about future activities related to the complete response letter regarding the company's new drug application for Linjeta™; the company's response to the complete response letter; the importance of the complete response letter; and the company's focus, goals, strategy, research and development programs, and ability to develop and commercialize product candidates.  Forward-looking statements represent our management's judgment regarding future events.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future clinical trial results, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements.  The words "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.  The company's forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, our ability to respond to the complete response letter regarding our new drug application for Linjeta™ in a timely manner and the possibility that information we provide in response to the letter may not be sufficient for the approval of Linjeta™ or another rapid-acting insulin or insulin analog by the FDA; our ability to secure FDA approval for Linjeta™ and our other product candidates under Section 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the degree to which we are able to clarify with the FDA related regulatory requirements; our ability to conduct the additional pivotal clinical trials the FDA requested in the complete response letter or other tests or analyses required by the FDA to secure approval to commercialize Linjeta™; our ability to develop and commercialize formulations of Linjeta™ or other rapid-acting insulin or insulin analog formulations that may be associated with less injection site discomfort than the formulation that is the subject of the complete response letter we received from the FDA; the progress, timing or success of our product candidates, particularly Linjeta™, and that of our research, development and clinical programs, including any resulting data analyses; our ability to enter into collaboration arrangements for the commercialization of our product candidates and the success or failure of any such collaborations into which we enter, or our ability to commercialize our product candidates ourselves; our ability to enforce our patent for Linjeta™ and our ability to secure additional patents for Linjeta™ and for our other product candidates; our ability to protect our intellectual property and operate our business without infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others and the degree of clinical utility of our products; the ability of our major suppliers, including suppliers of insulin, to produce our product or products in our final dosage form; our commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategies; our ability to accurately estimate anticipated operating losses, future revenues, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; and other factors identified in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-K for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.  The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of events occurring after the date of this press release.

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CONTACT: Seth Lewis, +1-646-378-2952

SOURCE Biodel Inc.