Preclinical Update

e-Therapeutics plc
10 December 2007


For Immediate Release                                       10 December 2007



                               e-Therapeutics plc

                      ('e-Therapeutics' or 'the Company')

    Successful completion of preclinical efficacy and resistance studies of
                   candidate antibiotic ETX1153 against MRSA



e-Therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX), the systems biology drug discovery company, is
pleased to announce the successful completion of preclinical studies of efficacy
and rates of resistance of its candidate antibacterial drug compound ETX1153
against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), commonly referred to
in lay terms as one of the hospital 'superbugs'.



High potency

ETX1153 has been tested in vitro against numerous strains of MRSA, including the
vancomycin intermediately sensitive (VISA) and vancomycin resistant strains
(VRSA). ETX1153 was found to be highly potent, with a Minimum Inhibitory
Concentration (MIC) below 0.25 microgram/ml for all but three strains tested,
for which the median MIC was 0.5 microgram/ml. The most common epidemic strain
of MRSA in the UK is EMRSA-16, and this was among the strains killed most
effectively at the lowest concentration. Furthermore the potency of ETX1153 was
compared with that of other antibiotics commonly used against MRSA, such as
moxifloxacin, trovafloxacin, ciprofloxacin, quinupristin/dalfopristin,
linezolid, teichoplanin and vancomycin, and determined to be significantly
greater, showing the lowest MICs among these drugs.



Low rate of resistance emergence

Initial laboratory studies conducted by e-Therapeutics in 2006 suggested that
the rate of resistance development of bacteria to ETX1153 was very much lower
than that to vancomycin. Quantitative comparative studies of the rate of
resistance development, comparing ETX1153 with two antibiotics frequently
prescribed for MRSA, mupirocin and ciprofloxacin, have confirmed this low rate
of resistance. In a study involving 10 common strains of MRSA and a
widely-accepted industry model for inducing bacterial resistance, resistant
mutants emerged in all the samples for mupirocin and ciprofloxacin, but for 4
out of 10 samples for ETX1153 no resistant mutants were observed whatsoever.
Across the other samples, the rate of development of resistance to ETX1153 was
orders of magnitude slower than for these frequently prescribed antibiotics.



Professor Malcolm Young, Chief Executive of e-Therapeutics commented:

'We are delighted that these rigorous studies have confirmed our initial belief
that ETX1153 could become an important weapon in the battle against this
devastating bacterial infection. We will aim to progress to clinical studies
with ETX1153 as quickly as possible.'



                                    - ends -

For further information:

e-Therapeutics plc                                    www.etherapeutics.co.uk
Malcolm Young                                         [phone]
[e-mail]

Nominated Adviser:
WH Ireland
Richard Lindley                                       [phone]
[e-mail]

Broker:
Cornhill Asset Management
Tom Whitehead                                         [phone]
[e-mail]

Andrew Houchin                                        [phone]
[e-mail]


Media enquiries:
Abchurch                                              www.abchurch-group.com
Heather Salmond                                       Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Stephanie Cuthbert                                    Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Ashley Tapp                                           Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]





Notes to Editors



e-Therapeutics plc is a systems biology drug discovery company. It has developed
proprietary computational systems to swiftly and accurately analyse and predict
how medicines interact with cells in the body. This optimises the probability of
identifying drug candidates with desirable efficacy and low toxicity. The
Company applies its novel, systematic approach to three areas of activity:

•            discovery of new drugs;

•            discovering novel uses for existing drugs; and

•            analysis of the interactions between different drugs.




Amongst e-Therapeutics' pipeline of compounds in development are novel
antibiotics that have been shown to kill the 'superbug' MRSA, and a novel cancer
chemotherapy that has been shown to kill malignant cells at safe doses in a very
short time. Other candidate therapies in development are targeted at
atherosclerosis, asthma and depression. The Company is currently in negotiation
with a number of pharmaceutical companies, and is progressing the preclinical
and clinical development of these products. For further information on
e-Therapeutics visit www.etherapeutics.co.uk.



About MRSA

Every year an estimated 100,000 UK patients contract an antibiotic-resistant
infection while in hospital. Cases of MRSA in England and Wales have increased
by 600% in the last decade. The reported cost to the NHS of treating these
infections is already believed to exceed £1 billion a year. With the steep
increase in the appearance of so-called 'super-bugs' such as MRSA in UK
hospitals, there is a widely-recognised need for new anti-bacterial treatments.

The majority of strains of MSRA are resistant to a wide range of antibiotics and
certain strains are even beginning to exhibit resistance to some of the most
recently introduced antibiotics such as vancomycin.

Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)

In microbiology, the MIC is the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that
will inhibit the visible growth of a microorganism after overnight incubation.
The MIC is the routine measure used to quantify the activity of new
antimicrobial agents and to identify and monitor resistance of microorganisms to
antimicrobial agents.


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