Re Synairgen admission to AIM

IP2IPO Group PLC
20 October 2004


For immediate release                           20 October 2004


                           IP2IPO GROUP PLC


              SYNAIRGEN PLC SUCCESSFUL £10.5 MILLION PLACING

                         AND ADMISSION TO AIM



IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO'), the intellectual property company that
commercialises university technology, is pleased to announce that Synairgen plc
('Synairgen'), a drug discovery company focused on identifying and out-licensing
pharmaceutical products that address the underlying causes, rather than the
symptoms of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, has today
published its prospectus for the admission of its ordinary shares to the
Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The placing raised
£10.5 million, including £10.0 million before expenses for Synairgen, at a
placing price of 130p per ordinary share (the 'Placing Price'). Synairgen's
capitalisation on admission, at the Placing Price, will be £28.2 million.  It is
expected that dealings in the ordinary shares of Synairgen will commence on 26
October 2004.



IP2IPO will hold a 30.6% equity stake in Synairgen following the placing and
admission to AIM.



For more information please contact:


IP2IPO Group plc
David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer                          020 7242 9900

Buchanan Communications
Mark Court, Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson                     020 7466 5000





The press release issued today by Synairgen follows below:


MEDIA INFORMATION



This announcement is not for distribution or release in or into the United
States of America, Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan.



SYNAIRGEN plc



SUCCESSFUL £10.5 MILLION PLACING



Synairgen plc, ('Synairgen' or the 'Company'), a drug discovery company focused
on identifying and out-licensing new pharmaceutical products which address the
underlying causes of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ('COPD'),
has today published its document for the admission of its ordinary shares to the
Alternative Investment Market ('AiM'), a market operated by the London Stock
Exchange ('Admission').  The placing raised £10.5 million, including £10 million
before expenses for the Company.  In response to strong institutional investor
demand, Southampton Asset Management were requested, and agreed, to sell £0.5
million of its shareholding in the Company.



It is expected that dealings in the Company's ordinary shares will commence on
26 October 2004.  Synairgen's market capitalisation on Admission is expected to
be £28.2 million at the placing price of 130 pence per share.



The net proceeds of the flotation will be used by Synairgen to strengthen its
research capabilities and to develop further its proprietary programmes.



Robert W. Baird Limited is acting as nominated adviser and stockbroker to the
Company.



Commenting on Synairgen's flotation plans, Simon Shaw, Non-Executive Chairman,
said:



'We are pleased to report strong support by investors for this fundraising which
reflects the first class respiratory research capability of the Company and the
University of Southampton.  We look forward to reporting on progress as we step
up our proprietary and collaborative discovery programmes to address the
significant markets of severe asthma and COPD.'



                                     -Ends-



For further information, please contact:


Robert W. Baird Limited                             Tel: [phone]
Shaun Dobson

Xavier de Mol

Hogarth Partnership                                 Tel: [phone]
Melanie Toyne-Sewell

Georgina Briscoe



This press release has been approved by Robert W. Baird Limited ('Baird') for
the purposes of s. 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.



Baird is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial
Services Authority. Baird is acting for Synairgen plc ('Synairgen') and no one
else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not be
responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to
clients of Baird or for providing advice in relation to such matters.



Baird and its affiliates or its officers, directors and employees may from time
to time purchase, subscribe for, add to or dispose of any shares or other
securities of the Company. Baird and its affiliates may act as market maker in
the securities of the Company



This announcement shall not, and no part of it shall, constitute or form part of
any offer for sale or subscription, or any solicitation of any such offer, nor
shall it, or any part of it, form the basis of or be relied upon in connection
with any contract or commitment whatsoever.  Any eventual acquisition of, or
application for, shares in Synairgen should be made solely on the basis of
information contained in a formal admission document relating to Synairgen
issued in connection with its proposed admission to trading on AiM.





Notes to Editors



1.                  Background to the Company

Synairgen was founded by Professor Stephen Holgate, Dr Donna Davies and Dr Ratko
Djukanovic (the 'Founders'), a world-renowned respiratory research team from the
University of Southampton (the 'University'), and spun-out from the University
in June 2003, supported by funding from IP2IPO Group plc.



Synairgen seeks to commercialise a number of drug discovery opportunities,
through its own internal research programmes and those that have been carefully
selected from the wider range of research projects led by the Founders in their
academic roles, and which offer out-licensing opportunities.  The Group intends
to out-license its IP at an early stage (pre-Phase II) rather than committing
significant capital resources to late-stage clinical trials.



Since June 2003, the Company has made significant progress: two proprietary
programmes in the field of asthma have been initiated and the Company has signed
three agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including
Merck Frosst (affiliate of Merck & Co Inc) and Cambridge Antibody Technology.
Synairgen is currently discussing further collaboration agreements.



2.                  Asthma

According to the World Health Organisation, between 100 and 150 million people
around the globe suffer from asthma and this number is rising. Asthma prevalence
in the UK is now 3-4 times higher in adults and 6 times higher in children than
it was 25 years ago, and currently it accounts for 1,400 deaths in the UK per
year.  In the United States, there are approximately 17-20 million sufferers and
the cost is estimated to be about $13 billion per annum.  There are limited
therapies available for severe asthma and the potential for treatments
satisfying this largely unmet need is significant, as demonstrated by the
projected sales of $3.3 billion in 2012 for Xolair(R).



3.                  COPD

COPD encompasses a number of diseases, including the smoking-related lung
diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The prevalence of COPD is estimated
at 16-17% in the US and Europe.  Globally it is killing 2.7 million people per
annum and is forecast to become the third largest cause of death in the world by
2020.  COPD is underserved by current treatments.

Sales of pharmaceutical products used to treat asthma and COPD in major
pharmaceutical markets in 2002 were estimated to be $7.0 billion and $2.7
billion respectively and are forecast to reach $12.8 billion and $5.8 billion in
2012.

4.                  Directors

Synairgen's Directors combine public company experience with specialism in the
respiratory drugs sector:

•          Simon Shaw, Non-Executive Chairman (aged 39)

Simon joined the Company in July 2003.  He is currently Chief Financial Officer
at Gyrus Group PLC.  He was Chief Operating Office of Profile Therapeutics plc
from 1998 to 2003, and prior to that, he was a corporate financier, latterly
with Hambros Bank Limited.

•          Richard Marsden, Managing Director (aged 37)

Richard joined Synairgen in November 2003 to drive the commercial development of
the Company as well as support the operational management.  He was appointed to
the Board as Managing Director in June 2004.  Between 1998 and 2003, he worked
as Projects Manager and Cystic Fibrosis Business Development Manager at Profile
Therapeutics plc. Prior to this, he worked at Zimmer (UK) Ltd, Genentech (UK)
Ltd, and Roche Products Ltd.

•          John Ward, Finance Director (aged 43)

John joined Synairgen in October 2004.  He was previously Chief Financial
Officer and Company Secretary of Profile Therapeutics plc from 1999 to 2004.
Prior to this, he worked at Rapid Deployment Group Ltd and Price Waterhouse.

•          Professor Stephen Holgate, Founder and Non-Executive Director (aged
57)

Stephen is a co-founder of Synairgen and was appointed as a Non-Executive
Director in June 2003.  He is MRC Professor of Immunopharmacology in the
Division of Infection, Inflammation and Repair at the University of
Southampton's School of Medicine.  He was instrumental in the development of
Anti-IgE on which the drug, Xolair(R) for asthma, is based.  He has established
industry collaborations with a number of pharmaceutical companies, including,
GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis AG, Merck Research Laboratories, Cambridge
Antibody Technology, Immunex/Amgen Inc and AstraZeneca PLC.

Other Non-Executive Directors include David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer of
IP2IPO Group plc (aged 36), and Sue Sundstrom, Director, Life Science Enterprise
at the University of Southampton's Centre of Enterprise and Innovation (aged
47).


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange