Patheon Discussions with Lonza Terminated

TORONTO , Oct. 20 /CNW/ - The Special Committee of Independent Directors of Patheon Inc. ("Patheon" or "the Company") (TSX:PTI) today announced that Lonza Group AG ("Lonza") has withdrawn its previously announced non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding restricted voting shares of the Company. In addition, the Special Committee and Lonza have mutually agreed to terminate discussions regarding other possible strategic transactions between Lonza and Patheon.

The Lonza proposal was announced on August 21, 2009 . JLL Patheon Holdings LLC ("JLL"), which now holds 57% of the Company's outstanding restricted voting shares, announced that it rejected the proposal and would not support any transaction involving a sale of JLL's shares of Patheon. Although due diligence had been substantially completed and Lonza and Patheon continued to explore various strategic options that could be in the best interests of the two companies, they were unable to agree to acceptable terms for such a transaction.

The Special Committee will continue to fulfill its mandate on behalf of all shareholders of Patheon and will continue to communicate with investors as developments warrant.

ABOUT PATHEON

Patheon Inc. (TSX:PTI; www.patheon.com) is a leading global provider of contract development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry. Patheon prides itself in providing the highest quality products and services to more than 300 of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Patheon's services range from preclinical development through commercial manufacturing of a full array of dosage forms including parenteral, solid, semi-solid and liquid forms. Patheon uses many innovative technologies including single-use disposables, Liquid-Filled Hard Capsules and a variety of modified release technologies.

Patheon's comprehensive range of fully integrated Pharmaceutical Development Services includes pre-formulation, formulation, analytical development, clinical manufacturing, scale-up and commercialization. Patheon can take customers direct to clinic with global clinical packaging and distribution services and Patheon's Quick to Clinic(TM) programs can accelerate early phase development project to clinical trials while minimizing the consumption of valuable API.

Patheon's integrated development and manufacturing network of 11 facilities, and 6 development centers across North America and Europe , strives to ensure that customer products can be launched with confidence anywhere in the world.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations regarding the Company's future growth of operations, performance (both operational and financial) and business prospects and opportunities. These statements are made in the context of the risks and uncertainties that are outlined in the Company's public documents, which can be accessed on our website at www.patheon.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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For further information: Special Committee Media Contact: John Lute, Lute & Company, [phone], email [email protected]