Pieris Appoints a New CEO / Appointment will bring substantial deal-making expertise to the company

Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany (ots) - Pieris AG today announced
the appointment of Stephen S. Yoder as CEO with immediate effect.
Mr. Yoder takes over the position from interim CEO and co-founder
Claus Schalper, who will remain CFO. Mr. Yoder joins Pieris from
MorphoSys AG, where he was General Counsel and Head of Licensing &
IP, responsible for company-wide legal & IP, as well as several areas
in business development.

"We are delighted to have Steve on board to help drive the value
of Pieris' proprietary Anticalin technology", commented Dr. Hans A.
Kuepper, chairman of Pieris' Supervisory Board. "The company is
truly moving into a new phase, where the first products are entering
the clinic and the Anticalin technology platform is reliably
delivering multiple drug candidates against many novel targets.
Steve's strategic vision and excellent track record will be important
assets in building significant value for Pieris. We look forward to
his leadership in ushering in an era of innovation and deal making at
the company."

Mr. Yoder holds a BS in Molecular Biology, and a Juris Doctorate
from The George Washington University Law School. He is an Attorney
at Law and a Registered US Patent Attorney with substantial
deal-making experience. While at MorphoSys, he closed scores of
collaborations with several of the largest pharmaceutical companies
world-wide, including the company's transforming deal with Novartis
in 2007 and the recent formation of a new alliance with
Daiichi-Sankyo.

"It is a pleasure to join an organization that combines world
class investors, a unique technology with huge commercial potential
and colleagues who are committed to constant innovation to deliver
what our partners need most", Mr. Yoder stated. "With our recent
collaboration with Allergan focusing on ocular disorders and our
Phase I study for PRS-050, our proprietary anti-VEGF Anticalin
program, scheduled to commence in the first half of 2010, Pieris is
proving the broad applicability of its technology. I am looking
forward to leading the charge in our efforts to further commercialize
our Anticalin platform and preclinical portfolio of proprietary
Anticalin drugs."

ENDS

About Pieris AG

Pieris is an independent biotechnology company devoted to
Anticalins(r), a novel class of specific binding proteins that
addresses an expansive range of therapeutic purposes and targets.
Exploiting extensive know-how in protein engineering as part of a
broad intellectual property portfolio, the company is committed to
advancing a therapeutic pipeline of proprietary and partnered
Anticalins, where the unique features of the Anticalin class promise
to deliver safe, convenient and innovative drugs. Anticalins are
exclusively sourced from Pieris' highly diverse and resilient
Anticalin libraries, which ensure a continuous supply of Anticalins
against a wide spectrum of targets.

Pieris exclusively owns the cornerstone Anticalin patent estate.
In addition, the unique structure of the Anticalin molecule generally
offers complete freedom to operate outside the patent boundaries
defined by conventional biological drugs such as antibodies.

Pieris most recently signed a partnership with Allergan, Inc.
(NYSE: AGN), to develop therapeutics against diseases of the eye.
Pieris has closed Series A and B rounds of venture-backed financing,
led by Global Life Science Ventures and OrbiMed Advisors LLC,
respectively.

About Anticalins

Anticalins are a recombinant, engineered format of lipocalins,
which are endogenous human binding and transport proteins. Being
human in origin, Anticalins are predicted to have a favorable safety
and tolerability profile in man, supported by toxicity studies from
Pieris' growing therapeutic pipeline and the advance of Pieris' lead
proprietary therapeutic program, PRS-050 (an anti-VEGF Anticalin),
into Phase I clinical studies in H1 2010.

Furthermore, Anticalins benefit from several properties that make
them attractive therapeutic candidates, including specificity against
small targets; robust physicochemical properties that enable
formulations not possible using larger molecules; and a simple,
low-weight yet utilitarian structure allowing seamless manufacturing
in bacteria from discovery to market. Further information on Pieris
AG is available at www.pieris-ag.com .

Originaltext: Pieris AG
digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/61954
press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_61954.rss2

For further information, please contact:
Pieris AG
Stephen Yoder, CEO
Phone +49 (0) 8161 1411 400
Email: yoder@pieris-ag.com