Biotie Names Chris Piggott as Chief Business Officer

BIOTIE THERAPIES CORP. PRESS RELEASE May 20, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Biotie Names Chris Piggott as Chief Business Officer Biotie Therapies Corp. (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki: BTH1V) announced today the appointment of Chris Piggott as Chief Business Officer and member of the Management Team of the Company, effective June 1, 2009. Mr. Piggott is replacing Kai Lähdesmäki, previously the Company's Vice President, Business Development, who retired from the Company in 2007 and continues to serve as an advisor for Biotie. Mr. Piggott has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and a proven track record in establishing and implementing business development strategies in addition to executing deals between large, medium and small companies in Europe, the United States and Asia. Mr. Piggott spent over 25 years with sanofi-aventis and its predecessor companies including Aventis Pharma, Marion Merrell Dow and Hoechst Marion Roussel. During his tenure, Mr. Piggott managed Aventis' licensing activities with companies based in Japan and Korea while also supporting the company's respiratory, anti-infective, Alzheimer's disease research groups, and led a team in the oncology field. Mr. Piggott also successfully negotiated and executed license, co-development and co-promotion agreements with Altana Pharma (now Nycomed) for ciclesonide and secured rights through licensing and research agreements to Coley Pharmaceuticals' CpG oligonucleotides in the respiratory field. He also led negotiations resulting in the licensing of a Japanese Alzheimer's disease treatment. Most recently, Mr. Piggott established and managed a business intelligence group dedicated to supporting corporate development activities at sanofi-aventis from 2005 to 2007. "Chris' industry background coupled with his robust, successful international business development experience makes him an ideal fit for the Chief Business Officer position at Biotie," stated Dr. Timo Veromaa, President & CEO of Biotie Therapies. "We are excited about the prospect of leveraging Chris' expertise in negotiating and closing in- and out-licensing partnerships. In conjunction with this transition, I wish to extend my warmest thanks to Kai Lähdesmäki for his pivotal role in establishing and successfully implementing Biotie's partnering strategy. Kai's work provides a solid basis to build on." "I am excited to join Biotie Therapies at this important time in the Company's development," said Chris Piggott. "I have been very impressed with Biotie's corporate activities to date which include notable deals with pharma partners such as Lundbeck for their nalmefene program, Wyeth for their PDE10 schizophrenia program and Roche for their VAP-1 antibody program. I look forward to working with the management team to build upon and strengthen these current partnerships, in addition to identifying, developing and executing on new value-generating collaborative opportunities." For further information: Ms. Virve Nurmi Investor relations manager Biotie Therapies Corp. tel. +358 2 274 8911, e-mail: virve.nurmi@biotie.com Biotie Therapies Corp. Biotie is a drug discovery and development company focused on central nervous system and inflammatory diseases. It has a broad range of innovative small molecule and biological drug candidates at different stages of clinical and pre-clinical development. Biotie's products address diseases with high unmet medical need and significant market potential, including addiction and psychotic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The most advanced product, nalmefene for alcohol dependence, is currently in phase III clinical development by licensing partner H. Lundbeck A/S. The commercial value of the pipeline has been demonstrated through existing alliances with top-tier global pharmaceutical companies such as Lundbeck, Roche and Wyeth. Biotie has operations in Turku, Finland and Radebeul, Germany. Shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.