POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know all by these presents, that the undersigned
hereby constitutes and appoints each of Kenneth I. Moch and Wendy A.
Milici, signing singly, the undersigned's true and lawful attorney-in-fact
to:

(1)	execute for and on behalf of the undersigned, in the
undersigned's capacity as an officer and/or director of Alteon Inc. (the
"Alteon"), Forms 3, 4 and 5 in accordance with Section 16(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder;

(2)	do
and perform any and all acts for and on behalf of the undersigned which may
be necessary or desirable to complete and execute any such Form 3, 4 or 5,
complete and execute any amendment or amendments thereto, and timely file
such form with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and any
stock exchange or similar authority; and

(3)	take any other action of
any type whatsoever in connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion
of such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the best interest of, or
legally required by, the undersigned, it being understood that the
documents executed by such attorney-in-fact on behalf of the undersigned
pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall be in such form and shall contain
such terms and conditions as such attorney-in-fact may approve in such
attorney-in-fact's discretion.

The undersigned hereby grants to each
such attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform any and
every act and thing whatsoever requisite, necessary, or proper to be done
in the exercise of any of the rights and powers herein granted, as fully to
all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or could do if personally
present, with full power of substitution or revocation, hereby ratifying
and confirming all that such attorney-in-fact, or such attorney-in-fact's
substitute or substitutes, shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
of this power of attorney and the rights and powers herein granted.  The
undersigned acknowledges that the foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in serving
in such capacity at the request of the undersigned, are not assuming, nor
is Alteon assuming, any of the undersigned's responsibilities to comply
with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

This Power of
Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until the undersigned is no
longer required to file Forms 3, 4 and 5 with respect to the undersigned's
holdings of and transactions in securities issued by Alteon, unless earlier
revoked by the undersigned in a signed writing delivered to the foregoing
attorneys-in-fact.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused
this Power of Attorney to be executed as of this 19th day of April 2005.



Signature:	/s/ Mark Novitch, M.D.
Print Name:	Mark Novitch,
M.D.