(23/01/2008) SOLVAY: FOURNIER LABORATORIES IRELAND LTD WAS INFORMED OF ANDA FILING FOR GENERIC TRICOR® IN THE USA

Embargo: January 23, 2008 at 6:00 PM (Brussels Time) An Attempt to Seek Approval for a Generic Version of TriCor® 145mg NFE Tablets Fournier Laboratories Ireland Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, was informed by Teva Pharmaceuticals that it has filed an ANDA - Abbreviated New Drug Application - with a Paragraph IV certification, seeking the approval of a generic version of TriCor® (fenofibrate) 145mg NFE tablets in the United States. The Paragraph IV certification procedure challenges a number of US patents relating to TriCor® which run through the next decade. Such procedures are not unusual for branded products in the United States. Fournier Laboratories Ireland Ltd. remains fully committed to its fenofibrate franchise and is currently evaluating its options. Solvay Pharmaceuticals is a research driven group of companies that constitute the global pharmaceutical business of the Solvay Group. The company seeks to fulfil carefully selected, unmet medical needs in the therapeutic areas of neuroscience, cardiometabolic, influenza vaccines, gastroenterology, and men's and women's health. Its 2006 sales were EUR 2.6 billion and it employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.solvaypharmaceuticals.com. SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs some 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2006, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.4 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR) is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels. Details are available at www.solvay.com For further information please contact: MARTIAL TARDY Corporate Press Officer SOLVAY S.A. Phone: 32 2 509 72 30 E-mail: martial.tardy@solvay.com Internet: www.solvaypress.com WERNER VAN DEN EYNDE, MD Pharmaceutical Communications SOLVAY PHARMACEUTICALS B.V. Tel: 32 2 509 62 27 E-mail: werner.vandeneynde@solvay.com Internet: www.solvaypharmaceuticals.com PATRICK VERELST Investor Relations SOLVAY S.A. Phone. 32 2 509 72 43 E-mail: patrick.verelst@solvay.com Internet: www.solvay-investors.com Ce communiqué de presse est également disponible en français - Dit persbericht is ook in het Nederlands beschikbaar Copyright Hugin The appendixes relating to the press release are available on: http://www.companynewsgroup.com/documents/PJ/CO/2008/131277_88_JNEQ_20080123EN.pdf [CN#131277]