Religious Investors, Schering-Plough Announce Agreement on Actions Regarding
Access to Prescription Drugs

KENILWORTH, N.J..///April 20, 2004/// Fourteen faith-based investors and Schering-Plough announced today that they had reached an agreement improving access to prescription drugs.

Schering-Plough made two major commitments as part of the dialogue with faith-based investors. They are:

· Creating a pilot education program in one neighborhood of a major metropolitan area for helping diagnose hepatitis C in low-income patients. The program will include counseling to assist those diagnosed to qualify for the financial assistance needed to pay for their treatment, through third party programs or Schering-Plough's own patient assistance programs, including Schering-Plough's Commitment to Care program. If successful, it may be expanded over time

· Adding a component to the sales representative training program designed to increase sensitivity to the perspective of clinics and other service providers who serve low-income patients as customers.

The investors, led by Trinity Health System, agreed to withdraw their shareholder proposal entitled "Payments and Rebate Policies and Access to Schering-Plough Products" from Schering-Plough's 2004 proxy ballot.

The agreement follows a series of dialogues including a meeting with Schering-Plough Chairman & CEO Fred Hassan and senior members of the Schering-Plough executive team. "We appreciated the candid and results-oriented nature of the dialogue," said Hassan. "As Schering-Plough moves forward with its new vision - to earn trust every day - we look forward to maintaining a transparent relationship with shareholders concerned about access to medicines."

"The crisis of millions of people lacking access to health care - and especially to prescription drugs - continues," said Catherine Rowan, a consultant who represented Trinity Health in the negotiations with Schering-Plough. "The pharmaceutical industry must respond, to protect both patients and shareholders. We hope the tangible steps we've agreed to can begin to alleviate part of that crisis."

"Schering-Plough believes that the pharmaceutical industry needs to address the challenges facing low-income, chronically ill, underinsured and/or uninsured people who cannot access the prescription medicines they need to improve their health," said Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan. "We support efforts to increase access and are committed to assisting patients in need obtain treatment. We continuously evaluate our patient assistance programs for their ability to do the most good for the most people. We intend to maintain and, to the extent financially prudent, expand our programs."

"Schering-Plough has agreed to specific, tangible steps to improve access to prescription drugs," said Margaret Weber, the chair of ICCR's Access to Health Care Working Group. "As the company turns around, we hope they make access to medicines a core value of the new Schering-Plough."

Investors will make a statement at the Schering-Plough annual meeting on April 27 on the issue of access to medicines and how the research-based pharmaceutical industry in general, and Schering-Plough in particular, can improve their response to the crisis. The company and shareholders also plan a series of dialogues over the next year implementing the agreement.

Fourteen faith-based institutional investors affiliated with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), including healthcare providers Catholic Healthcare West, Catholic Health Initiatives, and Christus Health, joined Trinity Health in filing the resolution.

CONTACT: Daniel Rosan, Program Director for Public Health, ICCR, 212-870-2317; Rosemarie Yancosek, Schering-Plough 908-298-7476