At the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of Novartis on 21 April 1999, Alex Krauer will retire from the position of Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors. In recognition of his achievements, the Board of Directors will make him an Honorary Chairman.

“More than forty years in the same company, the last twelve as Chairman, are enough,” noted Alex Krauer. “The time is ripe: our merger has been successfully completed and I am handing over Novartis in excellent shape to my successor. I wish him all the very best.”

Alex Krauer will be succeeded as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director by Daniel Vasella, who will continue as CEO. Vice Chairman Helmut Sihler will assume the function of Lead Director. Heini Lippuner will be appointed Member of the Committee of the Board.

Daniel Vasella commented: “I am most pleased to be assuming new responsibilities as Chairman and CEO of Novartis. We are at a critical juncture, transitioning from integration to growth. Our success will be built on the power of an aligned team with a shared vision, and a high performance culture that penetrates the spirit of our company. Looking to the future, our energies will be dedicated to continuing to shape our industry and to fortifying our role as an innovative world leader in the Life Sciences.”

Duilio Arigoni, Kaspar Cassani and William Rutter have reached the statutary age of retirement and are also stepping down from the Board of Directors.

William W. George, Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Inc., and Nobel laureate, Rolf M. Zinkernagel, have been nominated for election to the Board; the election will take place at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Novartis is a world leader in Life Sciences with core businesses in Healthcare, Agribusiness and
Consumer Health (Self-Medication and Nutrition). In 1997, Novartis Group sales were 31.2 billion
Swiss francs, of which 17.0 billion were in Healthcare, 8.3 billion in Agribusiness and 5.9 billion in
Consumer Health. The group annually invests more than 3.6 billion Swiss francs in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 86,000 people and operates in over 100 countries around the world.

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