Novartis Announced Today It Did Not Submit a Bid for a Potential Combination of Aventis and Novartis

Basel, 25 April, 2004 - Novartis announced today it decided to discontinue negotiations and not submit a bid for a potential combination of Aventis and Novartis' businesses. Novartis had entered negotiations at the unanimous request of the Aventis Supervisory Board as an alternative to Sanofi's hostile bid for Aventis. Following Aventis' decision to engage in discussions with Sanofi, at the strong intervention of the French Government, Novartis decided not to proceed.

Novartis' decision is final.

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2003, the Group's businesses achieved sales of USD 24.9 billion and a net income of USD 5.0 billion. The Group invested approximately USD 3.8 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 78 500 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world.

This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the Group's business, intentions or expectations. Such statements reflect the current views of the Group with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. There can be no guarantee regarding the existence or nonexistence of any major acquisitions in the future. Many factors can cause actual events to be materially different from the Group's current intentions or expectations.

For further information please consult http://www.novartis.com.