Alcon For immediate release New RETAANE Clinical Study Data Reported at Macula Society Meeting

FORT WORTH, Texas February

25, 2005 Alcon, Inc. (NYSE:ACL) reported the results of a clinical

pharmacokinetic (PK) study evaluating the effectiveness of a counter pressure device (CPD)

it developed to control reflux during the administration of RETAANE

15mg (anecortave acetate for depot suspension) by posterior juxtascleral depot (PJD).

The results of this PK study demonstrated that the CPD was effective in controlling drug

reflux in 100 percent of the study participants. Reflux occurs when a portion of the drug

leaks back out through the small incision in the conjunctiva during or immediately

following the PJD procedure. Henry L. Hudson, M.D. of Tucson, Ariz., and Donald Roy, M.D.

of Fresno, Calif., conducted the study. Allen C. Ho, M.D. of Philadelphia, Pa., presented

the data at the 28th Annual Macula Society Meeting in Key Biscayne, Fla.

addition to measuring reflux, the study also measured the concentration of drug in blood

plasma to confirm that effectively controlling reflux correlated with a higher level of

drug absorption. The results of this study supported this relationship, as the patients in

this study had higher concentrations of drug than did patients in previous trials who

experienced drug reflux. These data establish that PJD administration of

RETAANE depot using the CPD results in effective

delivery of the drug.

Alcon s new counter pressure device, reflux was effectively controlled during

administration of RETAANE in Dr. Hudson s and Dr.

Roy s study, said Dr. Ho. These positive results clearly demonstrate that

Alcon has successfully resolved drug reflux. Now physicians and patients can expect to

have a sufficient amount of drug to last for the entire six-month treatment

Robertson, PhD, vice president of ophthalmic research and development at Alcon, added,

This study responds to the FDA s specific request that we demonstrate that

reflux can be controlled with the counter pressure device, and its success should mitigate

any concern about reflux. We know from our phase III data that 57 percent of patients who

experienced no reflux and were treated with RETAANE

within six months maintained their vision, compared to 49 percent of patients treated with

VISUDYNE *; and these results met the seven percent non-inferiority

standard originally assigned to the trial. Furthermore, the overall results of our phase

III trial meet a 14 percent criterion more specific to the patients evaluated in the

addition the company announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its

New Drug Application (NDA) for RETAANE depot as fileable

and has confirmed a priority review assignment. Based on the date of its submission, Alcon

expects an FDA decision in late-May.

macular degeneration is an eye disease that causes damage to the macula the

light-sensitive cells at the center of the retina at the back of the eye. The macula is

responsible for central vision, allowing people to perceive colors sharply and to see with

enough detail to read, drive, watch television and perform other activities that require

focused, straight-ahead vision. Central vision enables people to maintain independence in

are two types of AMD dry, or non-exudative, and wet, or

exudative. Although the wet form of AMD constitutes only 10-15 percent of all AMD cases,

it is responsible for 90 percent of blindness attributable to this condition. Today, wet

AMD is the leading cause of blindness in industrialized nations in people over the age of

15mg (anecortave acetate for depot suspension) is an investigational treatment for

preserving the vision of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a

disease that affects as many as one in three people aged 75 or older. Anecortave acetate,

the active ingredient in RETAANE depot, is an

angiostatic cortisene that inhibits the abnormal growth of blood vessels a process

scientifically known as angiogenesis. RETAANE depot

works by blocking the effect of multiple angiogenic growth factors and by preventing the

weakening of blood vessel walls, which reduces the migration of cells that leads to the

formation of abnormal blood vessels. RETAANE depot is

administered onto the outer surface of the back of the eye at six-month intervals using a

procedure called posterior juxtascleral depot.

Inc. is the world s leading eye care company. Alcon, which has been dedicated to the

ophthalmic industry for over 50 years, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals,

surgical equipment and devices, contact lens solutions and other vision care products that

treat diseases, disorders and other conditions of the eye. Alcon has been conducting

retinal research for more than 15 years and is the world s leading provider of

surgical equipment used by vitreoretinal specialists who treat patients with AMD and other

is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.

Forward-Looking Statements.

This press release contains

forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform

Act of 1995, relating principally to our ability to gain FDA approval of

RETAANE depot and to the expected benefits of

RETAANE depot in treating exudative age-related macular

degeneration (AMD). These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and

other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be

materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or

implied by our forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the views of our

management as of the date of this press release with respect to future events and are

based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties,

you should not place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements. Factors that

might cause future results to differ include, but are not limited to, the following: we

may never gain approval of RETAANE depot or approval of

the NDA may take longer than we expect; treatments developed by other companies may reach

the market sooner or prove to be more effective than RETAANE depot; challenges

inherent in new product marketing; and government regulation and legislation. You should

read this press release with the understanding that our actual future results may be

materially different from what we expect. Except to the extent required under the federal

securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange

Commission, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-

looking statements, whether to reflect new information or future events or circumstances

For information, contact:

MacHatton (Alcon Investor Relations)

Shannon Caudill, Porter

Novelli (Public Relations)