Avigen, Inc. Elects Richard Wallace To Board Of Directors

ALAMEDA, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avigen, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of neurological conditions, today announced that Richard Wallace has been elected to the company's board of directors.

Mr. Wallace is Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Strategy for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world. In his role at GSK, he is responsible for overseeing global commercial development strategy. Mr. Wallace is a seasoned executive with a solid track record in both the commercial and clinical development of pharmaceutical products. His career at GSK, which began in 1992, is highlighted by a number of senior management positions of increasing responsibility in commercial operations, product strategy and clinical development.

"We are pleased to add Richard's pharmaceutical development expertise to Avigen's board," said Kenneth Chahine, Avigen's President and CEO. "Richard brings to our board exceptionally strong pharmaceutical expertise and executive leadership. His perspective and experience will be invaluable to us as we move the products we have in development into the clinic."

"Avigen is emerging as a promising developer of important neurology therapies," commented Mr. Wallace. "I look forward to being an active participant and helping Avigen realize its exciting potential."

About Avigen

Avigen is a biopharmaceutical company focused on unique small molecule therapeutics and biologics to treat serious neurological disorders, including neuropathic pain and neuromuscular spasm and spasticity. Avigen's strategy is to complete the requirements of clinical develop for each of the candidates in its product pipeline, and continue to look for opportunities to expand its pipeline through a combination of internal research, acquisitions, and in-licensing, with the goal of becoming a fully integrated commercial biopharmaceutical company committed to its small molecule and biologics neurology products. The company currently has in development AV650 for neuromuscular spasm and spasticity and two candidates for neuropathic pain, AV411 and AV333. Additionally, the company has in development a compound for the treatment of multiple bleeding disorders, including hemophilia A and B, AV513. For more information about Avigen, consult the company's website at http://www.avigen.com .

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including Avigen's belief that it will be able to expand its pipeline through internal research, acquisitions, and/or in-licensing, and its belief that it will be able to develop, commercialize or obtain value from its current drug candidates for any indication. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the fact that development of small molecule therapeutics and other therapeutic discovery and development is a time- and resource-intensive process, which may result in the expenditure of a significant amount of time and resources with no marketable product resulting from the effort. Other risks and uncertainties relating to Avigen are detailed in reports filed by Avigen with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Avigen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2005, under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1 of Part 1A of that report, which was filed with the SEC on March 16, 2006.

CONTACT: Michael Coffee, Chief Business Officer of Avigen, Inc.,+1-510-748-7372, or fax, +1-510-748-7155, or mcoffee@avigen.com

Web site: http://www.avigen.com/