LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 27/ -- Audrey D. Keane has joined GENSET Corporation of La Jolla, California and its affiliate GENSET SA of Paris, France as Vice President, Business Development. Ms. Keane will be responsible for structuring and negotiating strategic alliances with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the commercial development of therapeutic and diagnostic products. GENSET is a global genomics company with the purpose of accelerating drug discovery through comprehensive genomic sequencing and analysis. Prior to joining GENSET, Ms. Keane was Vice President of Business Development of Sequana Therapeutics. Employed by that company since 1994, she was responsible for establishing several major corporate partnerships. Previous positions include director of corporate development at Telios Pharmaceuticals from 1989 to 1994, manager of business planning at Quidel from 1986 to 1989, program manager at Genzyme Corporation, and chemical engineer at Diamond Shamrock. Ms. Keane received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. She is also registered to practice before the United States patent and Trademark Office. Pascal Brandys, President and CEO, commented: "We are very pleased that Audrey is joining GENSET at such a pivotal point in our development. GENSET has established an outstanding research team at our Evry center near Paris and is ready to expand our genomics activities in conjunction with corporate partners. Audrey has one of the best track records in the industry for establishing strategic alliances and we are delighted that she is joining our team." GENSET was founded in 1989 and recently completed an IPO on Nasdaq (GENXY) and Le Nouveau Marche (GENSET). GENSET uses its proprietary technologies to accelerate drug discovery by identifying and patenting genes and regulatory regions related to selected common diseases. Its initial commercial strategy is to target prostate cancer, schizophrenia, osteoporosis, psoriasis and hypertension.

SOURCE GENSET Corporation -0- 09/27/96 /CONTACT: Pascal Brandys, President and CEO of GENSET, 33-1-43-56-59-00, (Paris, France), or 619-551-6551 (La Jolla, Calif.)/