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OXFORD BIOMEDICA

Oxford Biomedica Acquires Access to Antibody Technology

Oxford, UK -1 February 2001:Oxford BioMedica announced today that it has signed an agreement with the French Centre for National Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Montpellier that grants BioMedica exclusive access to antibody technology developed by Dr Marc Piechaczyk at the University of Montpellier. As part of the agreement BioMedica will pay an upfront fee, milestones and royalties on sales.

The antibody technology covers the general concept of genetic delivery of antibodies for use in the treatment of a wide range of diseases including cancer. It complements technology that BioMedica has developed in-house, aimed at developing gene-based products to create, in a patient, a cellular factory that produces therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of a wide range of diseases.

Antibodies are a key component of the immune response to disease, and increasingly, pharmaceutical companies are developing therapies using externally delivered antibodies targeted at specific diseases. Important new drugs such as Genentech/Roche's Herceptin for breast cancer and Rituxan for lymphoma, and American Home Products' Mylotarg for leukaemia are already being sold on the market, and other new products are being developed.

The new gene-based technology being developed by Oxford BioMedica is designed to circumvent some of the problems, particularly related to manufacture and delivery of antibodies, that have been associated with the development of therapeutic antibodies. If successful, it should lead to an increase in the number of new antibody products and should be applicable in the treatment of diseases such as cancer, inflammation or infectious diseases.

Commenting on this agreement Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive of Oxford BioMedica said:
"We are delighted to have established a link with CNRS and the University of Montpellier. BioMedica is already active in immunotherapy and has commercial alliances with American Home Products and Nycomed Amersham in the antibody field. This agreement further strengthens the Company's commercial position in gene-based antibody technology."

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Notes to Editors

1. Oxford BioMedica plc
   Established in 1995, the Company specialises in the development and application of gene-based therapeutics and immunotherapeutics for the treatment of disease in the areas of Oncology, Neurobiology and Viral Infection. During 2000 Oxford BioMedica expanded its activities by the establishment of a Gene Discovery Division which applies the Company's gene-based technologies in the field of genomics with the intention of identifying genes that may be linked to disease. Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 1996.
   
   Currently Oxford BioMedica has corporate collaborations with Aventis, AstraZeneca, IDM, Modex Therapeutics, Nycomed Amersham, Valentis, Virbac and Wyeth-Ayerst. BioMedica has two products in Phase I/II clinical trials. MetXiaŽ is in clinical trials for late-stage breast cancer (BC1) and ovarian cancer (OC1), and TroVaxT is in clinical trials for late-stage colorectal cancer.

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