Directorate

PHYTOPHARM PLC
12 August 1999
 
 
                      APPOINTMENT OF MEDICAL DIRECTOR
                                     
Phytopharm plc (PYM: London Stock Exchange) ('Phytopharm') is pleased to
announce the appointment of Dr Rob Grover as Medical Director of the
Group.  Dr Grover will replace Dr Ian Rubin who is leaving the Company
today to become Chief Executive of a new drug development company.
 
Dr  Grover, Senior Clinical Research Physician at Glaxo Wellcome, is a
Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists with a broad experience of
clinical medicine.  At Glaxo Wellcome he was leader of an international
product development team responsible for a global development programme
which included phase I to phase III clinical studies conducted in 28
countries worldwide.  He is also experienced in lead compound evaluation
and strategic planning to achieve optimisation of product value. Dr Grover
will join Phytopharm on September 20th 1999.
 
Richard Dixey, Chief Executive of Phytopharm, said:
 
'Phytopharm has six products in clinical evaluation so Rob's experience of
managing all the clinical phases of drug development in the pharmaceutical
sector will be invaluable. We are very pleased to have attracted someone
of this calibre to our business. On behalf of everyone at Phytopharm, I
would like to express our sincere thanks to Ian for his contribution over
the past three years and we wish him well in his new position.'
 
Enquiries:
 
Phytopharm plc                                 Tel:  [phone]
Dr Richard Dixey, Chief Executive
 
Financial Dynamics                             Tel:  [phone]
David Yates / Sophie Pender-Cudlip
 
 
 
NOTES TO EDITORS
 
Phytopharm plc
 
Phytopharm's business is to take both simple and complex mixtures derived
from plant sources into full pharmaceutical development.  The US Food and
Drug Administration call such medicinal products 'botanicals'.  Botanical
products are whole or partially purified extracts of medicinal plants in
which the chemical composition is not fully characterised. These products
represent a new sector in the pharmaceutical market.
 
Phytopharm is the leading company in the development of botanical
pharmaceuticals. It has developed a portfolio of 11 such products, six of
which are in the clinical evaluation phase.  These products have been
targeted in the four therapeutic categories of anti-inflammatory
treatments, neurological disorders, dermatology and metabolic diseases.
In 1997, Phytopharm was granted an Investigational New Drug (IND) approval
in the US, the first time an IND has been granted for a complex botanical
product, indicating that such products may be registered as prescription
medicines.
 
More information concerning Phytopharm's activities can be found on its
Web site at http://www.phytopharm.co.uk.