Chairman's Statement

Intl. Biotechnology Trust PLC
23 February 2001



For immediate release 23 February 2001


                    INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC


Following the appointment of Schroder Ventures Life Sciences as Investment
Adviser to your Company and the Tender Offer, which was completed on 12th
January 2001, I think it is important to provide you with a review of the
Company, its portfolio and outlook for the life sciences sector in general.


As you are aware, your Company was launched in 1995 and between that time and
13th February 2001 has reported an increase in net assets and share price of
195.3% and 161.5% respectively.


The last eight months has been an eventful period for your Company. In July
2000, shareholders voted in favour of a resolution requesting the Directors to
allow shareholders who so wished to realise their investment in the Company at
a price that more closely reflected the net assets per share at that time. In
November 2000 your Board announced the appointment of Schroder Investment
Management Limited as Manager with Schroder Ventures Life Sciences as
Investment Adviser. In January 2001 the Tender Offer took place and as
foreshadowed in the Tender Offer document the composition of the Board has
been changed.


BOARD


As was outlined in the Tender Offer, John Green-Armytage, Donald Cecil and
Dennis Turner have, after serving on the Board since its launch six years ago,
decided to stand down following the EGM. They all retired on 21st February.


On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank them for their service to the
Company since its launch, particularly to my predecessor, John Green-Armytage.


On the same day, Alan Clifton, Alex Hammond-Chambers and Ian Macgregor were
appointed to the Board. . Alan Clifton until recently was Managing Director of
CGNU's (previously Commercial Union) investment management activities. Alex
Hammond-Chambers formerly was Chairman of Ivory & Sime and Ian Macgregor was
Chief Investment Officer of The Wellcome Trust.


I have no doubt they will give valuable help and advice in the future.


TENDER OFFER


It was very pleasing to note that a high majority of individual shareholders
tendered no shares or only a minority of their shareholding in the Tender
Offer.


It is worth noting that 34.72% of the issued share capital was tendered by
five large shareholders, including the stake previously held by Millenium
Partners LP. In total, shares representing 47.15% of the issued share capital
were repurchased and cancelled, with a payment to shareholders that
participated in the Tender Offer totaling £121.8 million.


Following the Tender Offer, our largest shareholders are now the Co-Operative
Insurance Society and AstraZeneca, with stakes of 16.66% and 13.44%,
respectively.


INVESTMENT POLICY & PROSPECTS


It remains the firm strategy of IBT to invest internationally in emerging
biosciences companies identified as offering substantial potential for
appreciation in value. We will invest both in companies already listed on a
stock exchange which are still in an early growth stage and in companies with
a strong product pipeline which are approaching a stock market flotation. We
also plan to provide development funding and operational and strategic support
as appropriate to investee companies.


At 13th February, the IBT portfolio stood at 19 core investments. At that
date, the Company's net assets, after taking into account the costs of the
Tender Offer totalled £138.7 million or 285.24 pence per share. The net asset
value per share is reported to the London Stock Exchange on a weekly basis.
Since the publication of the Annual Report no major new investments have been
made. However, the largest holding at the Company's financial year-end, Cell
Therapeutics, has been sold. More information about the portfolio will be
provided with the interim report.


Last year was unique for the biotech sector, with soaring valuations, high
volatility, a record number of biotech companies obtaining a stock market
listing (108), and unprecedented levels of interest. The sequencing of the
human genome and the genomics sector was a key driver of interest in biotech
in 2000. However, in the last quarter in particular, investment sentiment
changed markedly towards technology stocks, which in turn impacted the biotech
sector. In the 4th quarter of 2000 both the NASDAQ Biotech Index and the
NASDAQ Composite Index fell, by 17.5% and 32.7%, respectively. In 2001 up to
13th February the NASDAQ Biotech Index and NASDAQ Composite Index have fallen
a further 8.0% and 1.7%, respectively.


We believe biotech industry fundamentals remain strong. In general, the
industry enjoys intense speed of innovation, high barriers to entry, pricing
power, financial strength and is sheltered from economic downturn. The
industry pipeline is excellent, with 369 biotechnology drugs in clinical
trials in the US, and 60 biotech drugs with FDA decisions or filings in 2001.
The industry's relationship with big pharma is robust, with biotech
representing a substantial part of the pharma industry pipeline, some very
large collaborations, and biotech companies receiving higher royalties.


We and our Investment Adviser, Schroder Ventures Life Sciences, regard the
recent fall in values as providing attractive investment opportunities in
quoted and unquoted companies. We expect our team at Schroder Ventures Life
Sciences to identify these opportunities.




Biotech remains a compelling investment area with great long term profit
potential. We believe there is a strong team at Schroder Ventures Life
Sciences and are optimistic about the prospects.



Yours sincerely


Andrew Barker

Chairman



INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC

FINANCIAL INFORMATION




Net Assets                                                    Proportion of NAV
                                            Value
As at 13th February 2001                                                      %
                                             £000
North America
     Quoted                                85,355                          61.6
     Unquoted                              20,430                          14.7
     Sub-total                            105,785                          76.3
Europe
     Quoted                                17,038                          12.3
     Unquoted                               6,301                           4.5
     Sub-total                             23,339                          16.8

Liquidity                                   9,549                           6.9
Net Assets                                138,673                         100.0




Top Ten Investments                                           Proportion of NAV
                                      Cost     Value
As at 13th February 2001                                                      %
                                      £000      £000
Corvas International                 6,836    16,055                       11.6
OSI Pharmaceuticals g                5,315    13,706                        9.9
Targeted Genetics Corporation *      6,268    11,948                        8.6
Onyx Pharmaceuticals                 5,163     8,990                        6.5
Biocompatibles International         8,324     8,925                        6.4
Delsys Pharmaceutical                6,322     6,888                        5.0
Anormed Inc                          4,693     6,273                        4.5
Valigen f                            5,008     5,165                        3.7
Inflazyme Pharmaceutical g           5,396     4,898                        3.5
Ribozyme                             3,883     4,682                        3.4
                                    57,286    87,530                       63.1

g discounted in accordance with BVCA guidelines

* including warrants (unquoted)

f unquoted