EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bionovo Inc. (Nasdaq: BNVI) announced today the appointment of Klaus Kohl, Ph.D., as Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer. Dr. Kohl brings to Bionovo over 20 years of experience in product development and manufacturing. Dr. Kohl will be responsible for manufacturing, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance.

"We are very excited to add Dr. Kohl to our management team," said Isaac Cohen, O.M.D., Bionovo's Chairman and CEO. He added, "We believe Dr. Kohl's extensive background in the pharmaceutical industry will prove invaluable to Bionovo's current efforts. Klaus' two decades of experience and broad knowledge will optimize our organization to meet with partnering and commercialization standards."

Dr. Kohl's most recent position was as Vice President of Program Management, CMC and Regulatory Affairs at Novo Nordisk Delivery Technologies, where he was responsible for the development of an inhaled insulin drug/device combination product. Prior to Novo Nordisk, Dr. Kohl served as Senior Vice President, Quality and Technical Director at Aradigm Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical development company focused on respiratory disease management.

From 1985 to 2001, Dr. Kohl worked for Bayer Corporation, where he held various executive positions in quality assurance and drug product development. Before Bayer, Dr. Kohl was engaged in basic research for more than seven years at the Juelich Research Center in Germany, and the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund, Germany.

Dr. Kohl holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Marburg, Germany, and a master's degree in Experimental Physics and Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Aachen, Germany.

Dr. Kohl states, "I feel I am joining Bionovo at a very fitting moment, when my experience, technical knowledge and regulatory understanding can greatly contribute to the company's success. I believe Menerba is a groundbreaking product that will provide a safer treatment for women suffering from menopausal symptoms, and I look forward to contributing to its successful development."

Bionovo, Inc.

Bionovo is a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of safe and effective treatments for women's health and cancer, markets with significant unmet needs and billions in potential annual revenue. The company applies its expertise in the biology of menopause and cancer to design new drugs derived from botanical sources which have novel mechanisms of action. Based on the results of early and mid-stage clinical trials, Bionovo believes they have discovered new classes of drug candidates within their rich pipeline with the potential to be leaders in their markets. Bionovo is headquartered in Emeryville, California and is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol, "BNVI". For more information about Bionovo and its programs, visit: http://www.bionovo.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Bionovo, Inc. that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product development, efficacy and safety, regulatory actions or delays, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, physician acceptance, third party reimbursement, future capital requirements, competition in general and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Bionovo, Inc. is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE  Bionovo, Inc.



    -0-                           06/02/2009

    /CONTACT:  Claire Fong or Tom Chesterman both of Bionovo Inc.,

+1-510-601-2000, investor@bionovo.com/

    /Web Site:  http://www.bionovo.com /

    (BNVI)



CO:  Bionovo, Inc.



ST:  California

IN:  MTC BIO HEA

SU:  PER