Pronova BioPharma Announces Ruling by the District Court of Rome, Italy

LYSAKER, NORWAY--(Marketwire - August 20, 2008) -

19 August, 2008, Lysaker, Norway: Pronova BioPharma ASA (OSE: PRON.OL) ("Pronova BioPharma" or the "company") announces that the District Court of Rome, Italy, has decided not to uphold Pronova BioPharma's motion for a preliminary injunction against Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA ("Chiesi Farmaceutici"). Written arguments of the court's ruling have not yet been made available, and consequently the company is not in a position to comment on the contents of the ruling. The company believes the ruling will have no commercial impact given the continued strong growth in end-user sales and excess demand for the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient on a global basis.

Pronova BioPharma brought a motion for a preliminary injunction against Chiesi Farmaceutici for infringement of Pronova BioPharma's Italian patent IT1235879 (expiring August 2009). This action followed Chiesi Farmaceutici's filing of a marketing authorization application with the Italian Pharmaceutical Agency (AIFA) for approval of a pharmaceutical product covered by Pronova BioPharma's patent. If and when a regulatory approval is granted, Chiesi Farmaceutici may launch a pharmaceutical product covered by the patent.

Tomas Settevik, Chief Executive Officer of Pronova BioPharma, commented:

"We disagree with the decision by the District Court of Rome, and will carefully consider all available options to ensure that our intellectual property rights are upheld in Italy. Furthermore, we will continue to work actively with our Italian partners to uphold and strengthen the market position for Seacor, Eskim and Esapent (the trade marks under which Omacor® is sold in Italy)."

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For further information, please contact:

Hilde Steineger, Head of IR +47 48 00 42 40
Tomas Settevik, CEO         +47 22 53 48 61

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