Penwest Pharmaceutical Names Jennifer Good President And Chief Operating Officer; Robert Hennessey Steps Back From CEO Position, Will Remain Member Of The Board

DANBURY, Conn., Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. today announced that Robert J. Hennessey has decided to relinquish his position as Chief Executive Officer and return to serving solely as a director of the Company. In connection with this development, Penwest has appointed Jennifer L. Good, the Company’s current Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Hennessey, 63, who has served as a director of Penwest since 1997, was asked to come out of retirement in February of this year to serve as Chief Executive Officer when Tod Hamachek, the Company’s original Chief Executive Officer, resigned for personal reasons.

Paul E. Freiman, Chairman of the Board, said, “We are grateful to Bob for putting his retirement on hold in order to lead Penwest during an important stage in its development, and we look forward to his continued outstanding service as a director. Bob’s continuing involvement on the Board will help ensure a seamless leadership transition. As we know from her eight years with Penwest, Jennifer is a dynamic leader with the skills and experience to lead the Company as we continue to move forward with our strategy of developing products targeting primarily diseases of the central nervous system, using proprietary drug delivery technologies.”

Ms. Good, 40, had been Chief Financial Officer of Penwest since the Company was formed in 1997. As Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer, she led the Company’s finance, human resources, corporate communications and information technology functions. She will continue to be responsible for all aspects of the Company’s financial management.

Prior to joining Penwest, Ms. Good served as Corporate Controller and Corporate Director of Finance of Penford Corporation, Penwest’s former parent company, from 1993 to 1997. From 1987 to 1993, she served in a number of client management positions at Ernst & Young LLP, ultimately as audit manager. In that position, she worked primarily with clients in the high-technology, biotechnology and healthcare industries.

Ms. Good earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University.

Penwest Pharmaceuticals

Penwest develops pharmaceutical products based on innovative oral drug delivery technologies. We are focusing our development efforts principally on products that address diseases of the central nervous system. The foundation of our technology platform is TIMERx(R), an extended release delivery system that is adaptable to soluble and insoluble drugs and that is flexible for a variety of controlled release profiles. We have also developed two additional oral drug delivery systems, Geminex(R) and SyncroDose(TM). Geminex is a dual drug delivery system that is designed to provide independent release of different active ingredients contained in a drug, and SyncroDose is a drug delivery system that is designed to release the active ingredient of a drug at the desired site and time in the digestive tract.

The matters discussed herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause Penwest’s actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance suggested herein. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words, “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “potential,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause results to differ materially include; dependence on collaborators such as Endo Pharmaceuticals to, among other things, sell products for which the Company receives royalties, file for regulatory approvals, and/or to advance clinical development and commercialization of products; regulatory risks relating to drugs in development such as oxymorphone ER, including the timing and outcome of regulatory action; uncertainty of success of collaborations; the timing of clinical trials and whether the results of clinical trials will warrant further clinical trials, warrant submission of an application for regulatory approval of, or the regulatory approval of, the product that is the subject of the trial; actual and potential competition; the need for capital; and other risks as set forth under the caption Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results in Penwest’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2005, which risk factors are incorporated herein by reference. Penwest disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Contacts: Investors: Media: Jennifer Good Caroline Gentile/Jim Fingeroth (203) 796-3701 Kekst and Company (877) 736-9378 (212) 521-4800

Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co.

CONTACT: Investors: Jennifer Good, +1-203-796-3701, +1-877-736-9378, orMedia: Caroline Gentile/Jim Fingeroth, both of Kekst and Company,+1-212-521-4800

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