Investment

Intl. Biotechnology Trust PLC
12 July 2000


For more information please contact:

Dr. Edward Wawrzynczak
International Biotechnology Trust plc
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7634 2874
E-mail: [e-mail]

Katja Stout, Senior Account Manager
HCC De Facto Group plc
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7496 3300
E-mail: [e-mail]


                                                                              
        IBT MAKES INVESTMENT OF $5 MILLION IN SUNESIS PHARMACEUTICALS-        
                      A US-BASED DRUG DISCOVERY COMPANY                       


Wednesday, 12 July, 2000 London, UK... International Biotechnology Trust plc,
(LSE: IBT), announced today that it has recently invested US $5 million in
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, as
part of a $60 million private round equity financing. Credit Suisse First
Boston Equity Partners led the financing with IBT and Lombard Odier coming in
as new investors. Existing venture capital investors who also participated
were E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co, LLC, Mayfield Fund, Venrock Associates, and
Abingworth Management. 

This is IBT's ninth investment in the year 2000 as the company continues to
reinvest gains realised by some recent divestments.
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals has a novel, proprietary technology platform capable
of developing high affinity, small molecules to pharmaceutically relevant drug
targets extremely rapidly.  Sunesis's drug discovery platform is geared to the
identification of novel, small molecule drug leads that specifically
antagonise a number of critical protein-protein interactions or enzyme
activities. The company's mission is to be a leader in the discovery,
optimisation, and early development of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of
major human diseases. 

Dr. Edward Wawrzynczak of Rothschild Asset Management, managers of IBT, said:
'We are extremely pleased to have made this investment in Sunesis, a key US
player in the post-genomics era. The recently completed human genome project
will provide a plethora of new drug targets. Sunesis' technology platform
provides a key between drug target validation and drug development, by
enabling the rapid discovery of highly selective and efficacious small
molecule drug leads.

'The company is led by an outstanding management team: highly regarded and
experienced CEO James Young (ex-Alza, Affymax and Sepracor ), founder,
President and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. James Wells (formerly of
Genentech), co-founder, Professor Jonathan Ellman (UC Berkeley) and Senior VP
of Research, Dr. Eric M. Gordon, (founder- Versicor, ex-VP, R&D, Affymax,
ex-Director, Medicinal Chemistry, Squibb/BMS Institutes). These individuals
are assembling a world-class drug discovery and design team to exploit a
proprietary technology platform based on the integration of protein
engineering and medicinal chemistry,' he added.

Jim Young, CEO of Sunesis, commented: 'We are extremely pleased with this
financing round in terms of the amount we have raised, the quality of our new
investors, and the strong support we received from our existing investors. We
now have the capital we need to focus our energies on becoming the leader in
small molecule drug discovery for validated protein-protein targets.'

Jim Wells, PhD, President and CSO of Sunesis, stated: 'The proceeds will be
used to fortify our discovery platform and apply it to several diverse
targets, advance selected compounds into preclinical studies, expand our R&D
staff, and complete the construction  of  our new, state-of-the art laboratory
in South San Francisco.'

Further information on IBT at www.internationalbiotrust.com


                            


Issued by International Biotechnology Trust plc and approved by Rothschild
Asset Management, which is regulated by IMRO. As IBT invests in the
biotechnology sector, investments in IBT should be regarded both as long term
and as carrying a high level of financial risk. Accordingly share value may
fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the amount invested.


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
* £297.1 million net asset value of investment at 6 July 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
* 24 core investments (including Sunesis)
      15 in US, 4 in Canada, 3 in UK, 1 in Germany, 1 in France 

2. Sunesis

Founded in 1998 by Drs. James Wells and Jonathan Ellman, Sunesis is focused on
the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics that inhibit
protein-protein and enzyme targets.   Sunesis' strategy is to focus initially
on highly validated targets that have an established clinical pathway and/or
market and for which an oral product can rapidly replace an injectable protein
or monoclonal antibody product. Sunesis intends to pursue certain targets on
behalf of corporate pharmaceutical partners using its discovery technology to
generate optimisable lead compounds. In addition, Sunesis will selectively
pursue other compounds and targets for internal development. 

Recent breakthroughs at Sunesis have produced proprietary technology for
efficiently generating small organic compounds (MW<500 daltons) that bind to
four different protein-protein interfaces. The compounds have all the
favorable features of very positive 'hits' from a traditional high through-put
screen, namely dissociation constants in the low micromolar to high nanomolar
range. The newly discovered ligands bind reversibly and are specific for the
target of interest. Finally, Sunesis has demonstrated that these molecules are
amenable to dramatic further improvement through proprietary methods in
addition to traditional medicinal chemistry. Sunesis is aggressively pursuing
other protein-protein targets as well as enzymes. Management believes this
technology will soon revolutionise the drug discovery process. 

Sunesis has established a 13,000 square foot laboratory facility in Redwood
City, California, where 40 world class research scientists in the fields of
protein engineering, structural biology, chemistry, and cell biology are
actively engaged in highly successful drug discovery efforts.

For further information on Sunesis visit http://www.sunesis-pharma.com/

International Biotechnology Trust and Rothschild Asset Management Ltd (RAM)
make no representation as to the accuracy or timeliness of information
contained in websites linked to this press release and specifically disclaims
any liability for the information and advice of third parties which are linked
to, but not included, in this press release.