Interim Results

Intl. Biotechnology Trust PLC
20 June 2000

                                                                              
              INTERIM RESULTS FOR PERIOD ENDED 28 FEBRUARY 2000               

Chairman's statement

Introduction
This report provides the unaudited highlights of International Biotechnology
Trust plc ('IBT') for the six months ended 29 February 2000, together with
details of the activities during that period.

Overview
The latter part of 1999 and start of 2000 saw a significant upturn in the
biotechnology sector both in the US and Europe. For the six months ended 29
February 2000, the NASDAQ Biotech Index rose by 135% and the Bloomberg UK
Biotech Index rose by 95%. These rises were fuelled at least in part by news
surrounding the near completion of the Human Genome Project and by investors
in search of substantial growth returning to the biotech sector from the
Internet IPO arena. IBT performed extremely well during this period, with its
share price rising 481% from 56.0p on 31 August 1999 to 325.5p on 29 February
2000, thus substantially outperforming sector indices on both sides of the
Atlantic.

While this investment environment was obviously welcome, the optimism seen
since the start of the year has abated, and must be tempered by a realistic
approach to the sector. IBT continues to take a strategic view of the industry
and sees its core investments as long-term. As was predicted in the last
annual report, much of the activity during the six months to the end of
February was directed at managing the IBT portfolio and realising divestment
opportunities timed to maximise return for our shareholders. Since February,
IBT has continued to reap benefits and gained further substantial returns from
divestments, thus being in a position to invest in the value generating
companies of the future.

Investment activity
In February, IBT made a significant new investment in OSI Pharmaceuticals, a
US-based drug discovery company with a substantial pipeline of product
opportunities for commercialisation with the pharmaceutical industry. IBT
invested US$8.5 million (£5.3 million) in OSI, taking up 0.5 million of the
3.325 million new shares being issued as part of the company's US$56 million
private placement.


Prior to this, IBT's core investment activity had been follow-on investments
in existing portfolio companies. In January, IBT invested US$2 million (£1.2
million as part of an US$18 million private placement of shares by Onyx
Pharmaceuticals. Onyx's focus is on the development of novel therapeutics
based upon the mechanisms underlying the genetics of human disease, with an
emphasis on cancer. Its lead product, ONYX-015, is based on the proprietary
discovery that adenoviruses can be genetically modified to selectively
replicate in and kill cells deficient in p53 tumour suppressor and not in
normal cells. IBT also made a follow-on investment in CeNeS Pharmaceuticals
plc in December of £250,000. IBT received CeNeS shares in November 1999
following the company's merger with IBT investee company Core Group plc. CeNeS
is focused on developing drugs for CNS disorders and pain control and on the
development of controlled release drug delivery products. IBT also made a
follow-on investment in GelTex Pharmaceuticals and exercised its warrants in
Corvas International.

During the period, new non-core investments were made in Ares-Serono, Alza,
Amgen, Genzyme General Division and Sequenom.

Divestment activity
IBT realised a significant return on its investment in SUGEN Inc following its
acquisition by Pharmacia & Upjohn in September 1999. The proceeds for IBT's
holding were some US$22.8 million, representing a 194% increase in the value
of IBT's investment in SUGEN. IBT then exited Pharmacia & Upjohn at a value of
US$26.1 million (£16.1 million) which represented a further capital gain of
14.5%, and an internal rate of return over the five years of 36% per annum.

Divestments were made of some or all of the holdings in Cadus Pharmaceuticals,
Corvas International, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Medarex, Microcide
Pharmaceuticals, MorphoSys and Sequenom as well as warrants in Biocompatibles
International. These provided IBT with increased liquidity for further
follow-on or new investments.

Activity subsequent to reporting period
In March, IBT completed divestments of its holdings in Medarex and MorphoSys,
which realised significant returns on the value of IBT's investments of 915%
and 1,469% respectively. These represented rates of return on investment of
73% and 185% per annum. In April, IBT also completed its divestment of Cubist
Pharmaceuticals, showing an uplift in value of 346%, and an annualised
internal rate of return of 84%, and divested a proportion of its holding in
Corixa Corporation.

Since February, IBT has made substantial new investments in seven companies.
In March, investments were announced in Canadian-based AnorMED and German
biotechnology company Axxima Pharmaceuticals. AnorMED discovers and develops
therapeutic and diagnostic applications of metal complexes and metal binding
compounds, with an emphasis on life threatening disease and acute treatments.
IBT invested CAN$3.98 million (£1.74 million). Since the initial investment
IBT has increased its holding. Axxima has developed proprietary drugs that are
based on its revolutionary approach to generate a 'Signal Transduction
Firewall' against pathogens. IBT invested DM3.5 million (£1.1 million) as part
of a DM20 million financing round.

In April, IBT invested US$10 million (£6.3 million) in US-based Delsys
Pharmaceuticals, a drug manufacturing and delivery company. The company's
Accudep technology aims to reduce time to market for orally delivered drugs
and bring improvements in product quality and safety. IBT was the lead
investor in the US$26 million private placement of preferred stock.

In May, IBT invested CAN$3.9 million (£1.7 million) in another Canadian-based
company, ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals, and US$3 million (£2.0 million) in
eBioinformatics, a leading bioinformatics Application Services Provider (ASP).
 ImmGenics develops and intends to commercialise antibody-based therapeutic
and diagnostic products for the treatment and diagnosis of a wide variety of
diseases, including infectious diseases, cancer and inflammatory and
autoimmune disorders. The company's SLAM Technology provides a powerful route
for generating fully humanised, high affinity antibodies against infectious
disease targets. 


eBioinformatics is the first ASP to focus on providing bioinformatics services
to the academic and biotechnology communities.  Bioinformatics, the use of
computers to analyse biotechnological data, is now a key element of both basic
scientific research and new drug development. eBioinformatics enables any
researcher to take advantage of state-of-the-art bioinformatics resources over
the Internet, using a unique, low-cost, pay-as-you-go access model.

The first half of June saw two further investments: CAN$12 million (£5.4
million) in Vancouver based Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals, and US$7.5 million
(£5.0 million) in transatlantic ValiGen. Inflazyme is a biopharmaceutical
company focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of
therapies to treat serious inflammatory diseases including asthma, rheumatoid
arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. To date, Inflazyme's drug
discovery efforts have led to the discovery of three novel series of
compounds, which are being developed as new therapies to treat serious
inflammatory diseases. ValiGen was established through the recent merger of
ValiGene (Paris, France) and Kimeragen (Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA), creating
a transatlantic life sciences company. ValiGen's integrated portfolio of
bioinformatics, genomics and chimeraplast technologies enables the
identification and validation of novel targets for both pharmaceutical and
agricultural products. The company is seen as a strong transatlantic player in
the functional genomics arena with a competitive technology platform and a
foothold in both European and US markets.

Since February, follow-on investments have also been made in Biocompatibles
International and Targeted Genetics Corporation.

Three non-core investments were made in Biogen, Boston Scientific and Chiron.

Financial performance
As previously highlighted, the period saw a considerable rise in IBT's share
price. The Net Asset Value (NAV) also increased over the period from £69.2
million to £350.6 million, a rise of 407%. At 29 February, the discount
between the diluted NAV per share and the share price had narrowed to 18%
(from 29% as at 31 August 1999).

As at 15 June 2000, IBT's share price was 232.5p, showing a decline of 28.6%
since 29 February 2000. This reflects an overall downturn in the biotechnology
sector, and once again highlights the volatile nature of this sector, and the
importance of spreading risk.

Revenue and dividends
Your Company's policy is to pay out by way of dividend only those earnings
available for distribution; there are no earnings available for distribution.
It remains the view of your Directors that the best long-term returns are
likely to come from capital appreciation of assets. Consequently, the Board
does not expect to pay a dividend in respect of the current financial year.

Outlook
IBT achieved considerable success in the six months to February 2000. With
market sentiment improved and IBT's proven ability to select the better
investment opportunities in the global biotechnology industry, we are
confident that we can build on these successes in the future. Your Company
will seek to maintain a broad approach to investment in order to reduce the
inherent risk of investing in biotechnology. Since the reporting period we
have realised selected investments and continued investing to build for the
future, while within our portfolio, companies continue to mature and build
value through the discovery, development and marketing of new products and
through strategic M&A activity.

Extraordinary general meeting
On 22 May 2000, Millennium Partners, a 10.06 per cent shareholder,
requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting, notice of which was sent to
shareholders on 12 June 2000. Your Board will be writing to you shortly
setting out its views and recommendations on the resolutions. Shareholders
have been advised meanwhile to take no action.

John Green-Armytage 
19 June 2000

Financial highlights (unaudited)
Summarised Statement of Total Return 

                        Six months ended     Year ended      Six months ended
                        29 February 2000     31 August 1999  28 February 1999
                              £                 £                    £
Revenue return
Dividends                    69,253                 -                   -
Income from current 
asset investments           362,997                227,963          154,402
Deposit interest            40,177                   6,029            5,353
Underwriting commission 
and commitment fees           -                      2,589              -
Administrative expenses    472,427                 236,581          159,755
                        (1,762,369)             (1,780,801)        (714,178)

Net loss on ordinary 
activities before finance 
costs and taxation      (1,289,942)             (1,544,220)        (554,423)
Interest payable            (4,440)                 (5,705)          (3,403)
Loss on ordinary activities
before taxation         (1,294,382)             (1,549,925)        (557,826)
Taxation on 
ordinary activities         -                       -                    -
Net revenue loss
after taxation          (1,294,382)             (1,549,925)        (557,826)

Capital return realised gains/(losses)
 on investments         66,405,356              (1,749,044)       3,763,615)
Incentive fee provision (8,651,152)                  -                  -
Increase/(decrease) in 
unrealised appreciation
on investments         224,908,944              24,678,159       13,033,820
Net capital return     282,663,148              22,929,115        9,270,205

Total return           281,368,766              21,379,190        8,712,379

Return/(loss) per share
Ordinary shares
Basic         Revenue       (1.47)p                  (1.76)p          (0.63)p
              Capital      321.20p                   26.06p           10.53p
                           319.73p                   24.30p            9.90p

Diluted Revenue             (1.47)p                  (1.76)p          (0.63)p
       Capital             321.20p                   26.06p           10.53p
                           319.73p                   24.30p            9.90p

Balance sheet (extracts)

                           As at             As at               As at
                     29 February 2000     31 August 1999      28 February 1999
                            £                   £                   £

Fixed asset investments  298,349,259        67,247,880          52,109,116
Current asset investments 51,263,072         2,295,189           4,594,837    
  
                         349,612,331        69,543,069          56,703,953
Other net assets/
(liabilities)                946,684          (352,820)           (180,515)
Net assets               350,559,015        69,190,249          56,523,438

Net asset value per share
Basi  Ordinary shares         398.35p            78.62p              64.23p
Diluted Ordinary shares       396.25p            78.62p              64.23p


Notes

1 These accounts have been prepared using accounting policies consistent with
those used for the audited financial statements as at 31 August 1999.
2. The warrants issued by IBT had an exercise price of £1, however the shares
of IBT had been trading at a fair value below the exercise price. As such they
were anti-dilutive and are not required to be taken into the EPS calculation.
The warrants expired on 31 January 1999.
3. The dilution for the period ended 29 February 2000 arises from an incentive
fee provision not applicable in comparable figures.
4. The comparative figures for the financial year ended 31 August 1999 are
extracted from the Company's statutory accounts for that financial year. Those
accounts have been reported on by the Company's auditors and delivered to the
Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors was unqualified and did not
contain a statement under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
5. Administrative expenses include general expenses and a fee payable to the
Manager. Under a management agreement dated 13 April 1994, as amended, a fee
of 1.375% per annum is payable to the Manager quarterly in arrears, based on
the Net Asset Value of the Company at the end of the quarter excluding those
funds which are managed by the Manager.


For more information please contact:

Jeremy Curnock Cook, Director
International Biotechnology Trust plc
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7634 2881
E-mail: [e-mail]

Financial Media Enquiries:
Sophie Pender-Cudlip / Jonathan Birt
Financial Dynamics
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] 

Trade Media Enquiries:
Katja Stout
HCC De Facto Group plc
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7496 3300
E-mail: [e-mail]


Notes to editors

1. International Biotechnology Trust plc  

www.internationalbiotrust.com

International Biotechnology Trust plc (IBT) was launched to take advantage of
the investment opportunities arising in mid-stage life science companies, with
emphasis on investing in relatively few companies, and involving a close
working relationship with investee companies through the provision of
strategic management support and sector expertise. 

International Biotechnology Trust - Key Data
* Founded in 1994
* £262.38 million net asset value of investment at 20 June 2000 
* Listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE.L)
* Managed by the bioscience unit at Rothschild Asset Management
* Invests primarily in mid-stage biotechnology companies
* Investment criteria
- sound technology platform
- under-resourced
- good prospects for commercialisation
* Further financing may be invested where appropriate
* Strategic support and management development provided
* 23 core investments 
     14 in US, 4 in Canada, 3 in UK, 1 in Germany, 1 in France