Retinostat Agreement

Oxford Biomedica PLC
09 September 2003

    OXFORD BIOMEDICA AND ENTREMED ENTER AGREEMENT ON RETINOSTAT(TM) PROGRAMME

Oxford, UK: 9 September 2003 - Oxford BioMedica and EntreMed, Inc. announced
today a license agreement through which Oxford BioMedica has access to
EntreMed's proprietary angiogenesis inhibitor genes for use in its RetinoStat
programme for the treatment of vision-loss via localised delivery.

Under the terms of the agreement, Oxford BioMedica receives exclusive worldwide
rights to use EntreMed's angiostatin and endostatin genes in the development of
locally delivered gene-based therapeutics for ocular diseases. Oxford BioMedica
plans to utilise EntreMed's genes in its RetinoStat programme for the treatment
of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. RetinoStat is
currently in preclinical development.

Under the terms of the agreement, EntreMed receives an upfront cash payment,
further payments on the achievement of clinical and regulatory milestones, and
royalties on future worldwide product sales. Additionally, Oxford BioMedica has
issued 301,748 new Ordinary Shares at 26.075p to EntreMed. Oxford BioMedica is
responsible for the development of RetinoStat and related products and has
already entered preliminary commercial partnership discussions with leading
ophthalmic companies.

In addition to this agreement, Oxford Biomedica and EntreMed are exploring a
possible relationship involving research on hypoxia and hypoxia-induced
diseases. Oxford BioMedica's proprietary hypoxia response element (HRE)
technology brings genes under the control of an oxygen-sensitive switch and
could have application in diseases such as cancer, anaemia and cardiovascular
disease.

Commenting on the announcement, Oxford BioMedica's Chief Executive, Professor
Alan Kingsman said, 'This license represents an important step towards moving
Oxford BioMedica's RetinoStat programme towards clinical development. We
consider EntreMed's genes to be the most suitable angiogenesis inhibitors for
the treatment of vision-loss, which is a market with substantial unmet medical
needs. Currently, we are exploring opportunities to expand our relationship with
EntreMed to investigate additional applications of Oxford BioMedica's HRE gene
switch technology.'

                                 Ends-


For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc
Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive                Tel: [phone]
City/Financial Enquiries:
Mike Wort, James Chandler: Beattie Financial            Tel: [phone]
Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries:
Sue Charles, Katja Stout: Northbank Communications      Tel: [phone]


Notes to editors

1.   Oxford BioMedica

Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company specialising in the
development of gene-based products for a range of unmet medical needs with an
emphasis on new cancer products, which combine novel mechanisms of action with
very low side effects, and innovative neurotherapy products, which address large
and, in several areas, untapped markets. The products are all protected by
multiple patents comprising a total intellectual property portfolio of some 69
patent families, which represents one of the broadest patent estates in the
field.

In addition to its technical research skill-base, Oxford BioMedica has in-house
clinical, regulatory and manufacturing know-how. The development pipeline
includes two novel anti-cancer products in clinical trials and a gene-based
treatment for Parkinson's disease, which is in late preclinical studies.

TroVax(R), Oxford BioMedica's lead cancer immunotherapy product, is in Phase II
trials for colorectal cancer. Further Phase II trials are planned for breast and
renal cancer. MetXia(R), Oxford BioMedica's lead gene-based cancer therapeutic,
is based on a highly engineered retrovirus gene delivery system expressing a
specific human cytochrome P450 gene. MetXia is being investigated in a Phase I/
II trial in breast cancer, and regulatory submissions are under review for
trials in pancreactic cancer.

Oxford BioMedica has a wholly-owned subsidiary in San Diego, USA. Oxford
BioMedica has corporate collaborations with Wyeth, Intervet, Aliga
Pharmaceuticals, Amersham, Arius Research and Viragen.

Further information is available at http://www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk


2.   RetinoStat for vision-loss

The main causes of vision-loss in the developed world are age-related macular
degeneration ('AMD') and diabetic retinopathy ('DR'). These conditions affect
approximately 30 million people in the US and Europe and the market potential is
in excess of $1.0 billion. In both AMD and DR, blindness is caused by the
defective formation of new blood vessels in the retina. In AMD, new blood
vessels extend from the inner retina beyond the inner limiting membrane, which
leads to haemorrhaging and distortion of the specific area of the retinal
surface responsible for sharp, central vision. In DR, a similar process occurs
however, the new blood vessels appear on the vitreous surface of the retina
causing excessive accumulation of fluid or 'oedema', which blurs vision and
causes retinal haemorrhage. RetinoStat is designed to halt this aberrant growth
of blood vessels and prevent it recurring. The current treatments for AMD and DR
tend only to slow the diseases' progression.

Oxford BioMedica entered a research collaboration with the Institute of
Ophthalmology in May 2002 to use the Company's proprietary technology to develop
novel treatments for vision loss. RetinoStat comprises a LentiVector gene
delivery system expressing an angiostatic gene under the control of Oxford
BioMedica's Hypoxia Response Element, which promotes gene expression under low
oxygen conditions.


3.   EntreMed

EntreMed, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing
therapeutics that simultaneously target the biological pathways of angiogenesis
(abnormal blood vessel growth) inflammation, coagulation and/or apoptosis
(programmed cell death) - pathways associated with over 80 diseases such as
cancer, blindness and atherosclerosis. The Company's clinical drug candidates,
led by the small molecule Panzem(R), have shown a strong safety profile with
neither toxicity nor clinically significant side effects reported to date.
Further, doctors have reported tumor regression and disease stabilization in
some clinical patients that have received EntreMed drug candidates. The Company
also has a rich pipeline of small molecule compounds in preclinical development,
consisting primarily of new chemical entities based on
2-methoxyestradiol-related structures (steroidal and non-steroidal analogs) and
chemically-derived small molecules from peptides - peptidomimetics.

For further information, visit EntreMed's web site at http://www.entremed.com.


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