OXFORD BIOMEDICA PLC

Oxford BioMedica scientists attending an international conference on retroviruses in Long Island, USA, presented the Company's latest data on their anti-HIV gene therapy, ImmStat^TM. ImmStat is a derivative of the HIV virus, which has been synthesised and engineered by the Company to deliver a set of RNA molecules designed to disrupt the replication cycle of HIV in a number of different ways.

The data presented show for the first time, the construction of a synthetic derivative of HIV that can carry anti-HIV genes to the CD4 peripheral blood lymphocytes, the very cells that the natural virus infects. The clinical aim is to produce a population of CD4 cells that are resistant to HIV replication thereby breaking the cycle of HIV replication in the immune system. This could mean that an asymptomatic HIV-positive individual would not develop AIDS. Because ImmStat is an HIV-like vector without replication ability, it means that it is essentially a targeted therapy for those cells of the immune system that are susceptible to the disease. The development of a synthetic version of HIV also gets over many of the production problems, particularly the scaling-up of laboratory manufacturing procedures, which have previously held back the use of HIV as a gene transfer vector.

Commenting on the data, Prof. Susan Kingsman, Research Director, said "We are very pleased to be able to report some of the key properties of our ImmStat product at this most prestigious international meeting and among many of the professionals who are leading the fight against HIV. The ImmStat system uses a chemically synthesised version of key viral genes to produce the most advanced lentiviral vector technology currently available and we are driving it hard towards its first clinical applications in HIV-infected patients."

These and other developments underpin Oxford BioMedica's leadership position in building gene delivery systems based on lentiviruses in addition to other gene-based therapeutic products. This broad-based technology platform led to the formation of ViroTech, the recently announced joint venture with the Korean Biotech Company, ViroMed. The joint venture will focus on taking a number of the planned Oxford BioMedica therapeutic programmes into the clinic over the next few years. Oxford BioMedica will, at the same time, continue with its existing clinical trial programmes in Europe.

Notes to Editors 1. Oxford BioMedica: Established in 1995, specialises in the development and application of gene-based therapeutics using advanced gene delivery technologies for the treatment of disease in the areas of Oncology, Viral Infection, Neurobiology, Cardiovascular Disease and Genetic Deficiency. Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the UK Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 1996.