Statement re Synairgen

IP2IPO Group PLC
12 October 2004



For Immediate Release                                            12 October 2004


SYNAIRGEN ANNOUNCES ITS INTENTION TO FLOAT ON THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MARKET
                          OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

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 which address the underlying causes, rather than the
symptoms of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ('COPD'), has today
announced its intention to float on the Alternative Investment Market ('AIM') of
the London Stock Exchange plc by way of a Placing. IP2IPO will hold a 47.4%
equity stake in Synairgen prior to immediately Synairgen's placing and admission
to AIM.

The press release issued today by Synairgen is enclosed below:

For more information please contact:

IP2IPO
David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer                      020 7067 1651

Synairgen
Simon Shaw                                                  07739 807 625

Robert W Baird,
broker and nominated adviser to Synairgen
Shaun Dobson/Xavier de Mol                                  020 7488 1212

Hogarth Partnership                                         020 7357 9477
Melanie Toyne-Sewell / Georgina Briscoe

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

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


PROPOSED ADMISSION TO THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MARKET

Synairgen plc, ('Synairgen'), 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'), today
announced its intention to float on AiM, a market operated by the London Stock
Exchange.

Background

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

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

'Despite the success of currently marketed therapies, asthma and COPD are
rapidly growing causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

'At Synairgen, we have one of the world's leading teams in respiratory disease,
led by Professor Stephen Holgate, with a track record of at least 20 years of
research and IP development to build on.

'We are pursuing an AiM flotation in order both to finance the development of
our portfolio of collaborative and proprietary programmes, and to create an
independent corporate platform from which to exploit it through out-licensing.'

                                     -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.

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.      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).

2.      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.

3.      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 a consulting role 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 2002, 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).



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