Dr Peter Johnson, aged 72, will retire as Non-Executive Chairman. Professor Alan Kingsman will be appointed as Chairman and will be succeeded as Chief Executive Officer by Dr Mike McDonald, currently Chief Medical Officer. Professor Susan Kingsman will retire as Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Director. She will be succeeded by Dr Stuart Naylor, currently Senior Vice President, Research & Development, who will be appointed to the Board. Susan Kingsman will continue to serve the Company on an exclusive basis as Senior Scientific Consultant. Nick Rodgers, the Company’s Senior Independent Director, will assume the role of Deputy Chairman.

These Board changes will become effective on 1 July 2008. Oxford BioMedica is committed to good corporate governance, including appropriate independent director representation on the Board. The Board was recently further strengthened by the appointment of Dr Alex Lewis as Non-Executive Director and the Company is seeking to make another Non-Executive appointment.

Peter Johnson has been Chairman of Oxford BioMedica since 2001 and, on retiring, will have been a member of the Board for nine years. Alan Kingsman co-founded Oxford BioMedica and is an inventor on many of the Company’s major patents. He has led the Company as Chief Executive Officer since its inception in 1995. In assuming the position of Chairman, he will continue to contribute to the Company’s strategic development, particularly in the areas of new product innovation and intellectual property.

Mike McDonald brings over 20 years of experience in clinical drug development and regulatory leadership. He joined Oxford BioMedica in 2005 from Seattle Genetics, a US-based biotechnology company, where he was Chief Medical Officer and directed the clinical development of their monoclonal antibody products. Previously, Mike spent nine years with Eli Lilly where he led the European Medical, Regulatory, Pharmacovigilance and Health Economics functions before taking on the role of Worldwide Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs based in the USA. Before that he was at SmithKline Beecham for seven years where he was involved in worldwide clinical development and regulatory management and he was also a member of the Pharmaceutical Development Strategy Committee. Through these roles Mike has been instrumental in the successful development and registration of numerous “blockbuster” products, particularly in the fields of neuroscience and oncology. These include Zyprexa^® for schizophrenia (peaks sales >US$4 billion), Paxil^® for depression (peak sales >US$3 billion), Evista^® for osteoporosis (peak sales >US$1 billion), Gemzar^® for pancreatic cancer (peak sales >US$1 billion), Humalog^® for diabetes (peak sales >US$1 billion) and Kytril^® for emesis (peak sales >US$0.5 billion). Mike received his medical degree from Edinburgh University; he is a member of the Royal College of Physicians in London, holds a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Physicians. He has served on operational committees of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations and on the editorial board of Applied Clinical Trials.

Stuart Naylor has been with Oxford BioMedica since its inception. He joined the Company from the Institute of Cancer Research and has been a major figure in the technical development of the Company’s oncology programmes as well as pioneering Oxford BioMedica’s ocular products, including RetinoStat^® for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy and StarGen^™ for the treatment of Stargardt disease. Stuart has a first degree in Microbiology and Immunology, a Masters degree in Immunology and a PhD in Cancer Studies.

As required by the UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance, these appointments have been discussed in advance with major shareholders. The appointment process has been led by the Senior Independent Director as Chairman of the Nomination Committee who commissioned an independent review of potential external candidates. In reaching its recommendation, the Nomination Committee, composed entirely of Non-Executive Directors and the Chairman, considered Oxford BioMedica’s technical foundations, future development and the significant benefits of continuity to the Company and its shareholders.

Oxford BioMedica continues to make progress in line with the guidance and objectives reported with its 2007 annual results on 10 March 2008.

Commenting on his retirement from the Board, Peter Johnson said: “It has been a great pleasure being part of the team at Oxford BioMedica that has seen the Company progress from an early-stage research organisation to become a leading UK biopharmaceutical company with products in advanced clinical development. I wish the Company well as it continues to expand its development activities and prepares for the commercialisation of its lead products.”

Alan Kingsman commented on the Board changes: “As Oxford BioMedica has evolved and grown, the emphasis is more and more on clinical development and commercialisation. The Company now needs a leader with broad and deep experience in the development, registration and launch of products. Mike McDonald, with his extensive pharmaceutical company experience, ticks all of the boxes for such a leadership position. I look forward to working with Mike, as we take Oxford BioMedica to its next stage of corporate and commercial success. I would also like to this opportunity to thank Peter Johnson for his valuable contributions to the Company as both Non-Executive Director and Chairman. We all wish Peter well for the future.”

Commenting on his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mike McDonald said: “I am both delighted and honoured to accept this position. Oxford BioMedica is an exceptional Company with considerable potential. Our success in bringing our first Phase III study to full recruitment on time and on budget and our recent initiation of the first ever European gene therapy trial for Parkinson’s disease are testaments to the quality of the team at Oxford BioMedica. I look forward to leading that team into the next phase of the Company’s growth and continuing to work closely with Alan Kingsman to deliver shareholder value and patient benefit from this uniquely innovative product portfolio.”

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