Termination of collaboration

Oxford Biomedica PLC
2 October 2001


For immediate release

2001/OB/16

2 October 2001

For further information, please contact:

Oxford BioMedica plc                             
Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive         Tel: [phone]

City/Financial Enquiries:                        
Melanie Toyne Sewell/Fiona Noblet
Financial Dynamics                               Tel: [phone]

Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries:                
Chris Gardner, HCC*De Facto Group                Tel: [phone]



                              OXFORD BIOMEDICA PLC
                    TERMINATION OF COLLABORATION WITH MODEX
                               THERAPEUTICS SA



Oxford, United Kingdom - 2 October 2001. Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE:OXB) 
('BioMedica') today announced that its collaboration in the diabetes field with
Modex Therapeutics S.A. of Lausanne, Switzerland ('Modex') has been terminated
by mutual agreement. Strategically, Modex has decided to discontinue its
diabetes programme and focus on its other development programmes. There is no
financial loss for BioMedica associated with this termination.

The collaboration, initiated in July 1999, used BioMedica's LentiVector(R) to
modify pancreatic b-islet cells. The vectors have been shown to deliver genes
very efficiently to these cells and have met all of the expectations.
BioMedica is currently in discussion with two other companies with interests
in diabetes applications. An exciting opportunity in this field is the
application of LentiVector(R) to stem cell engineering approaches.

Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive, commented:

'We are sorry that Modex has moved away from its diabetes programme. However,
with respect to BioMedica, the Modex programme represented only a minor part
of our activities and our other programmes, including the two clinical trials,
are progressing very well.'

                                    -Ends-

Notes to Editors



1.                   Oxford BioMedica plc

Established in 1995, the Company specialises in the application of gene-based
technology to the development of novel therapeutics. Its three principal
activities are in the fields of gene therapy, immunotherapy and genomics, and
its principal therapeutic areas are in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the
London Stock Exchange in December 1996, and upgraded to the United Kingdom
Listing Authority Official List in April 2001 following a successful £35.5
million fund-raising.



Oxford BioMedica has operating centres in Oxford, UK and San Diego, USA



Currently Oxford BioMedica has corporate collaborations with Aventis,
AstraZeneca, IDM, Nycomed Amersham, Valentis, Virbac and Wyeth. BioMedica has
two products in Phase I/II clinical trials: MetXia(R) for late-stage breast
cancer and ovarian cancer, and TroVaxTM for late-stage colorectal cancer.



2.                   Modex Therapeutics

Modex Therapeutics is a publicly listed Swiss biotechnology company, founded
in 1996 with a focus on tissue repair, regeneration and replacement (T3R). T3R
represents a new approach to medicine, with the goal of repairing or
regenerating human tissues or organs affected by disease, trauma or premature
ageing. Registered shares of Modex Therapeutics (MDXN) are traded on the SWX
New Market.



3.         Encapsulated cell therapy collaboration for diabetes

Under an agreement dated July 1999, Modex took a license for BioMedica's
LentiVector(R) technology to develop a device to secrete insulin in patients
with insulin-dependent diabetes, aimed at obviating the need for insulin
injections. Modex aimed to encapsulate b-islet cells from a donor pancreas in
order to construct a device that would secrete insulin in response to
fluctuations in glucose concentrations. LentiVector(R) was licensed to
genetically modify the donor pancreatic cells to prevent their rapid death
following encapsulation.



Under the agreement, BioMedica received annual maintenance fees. All product
development costs under the programme were met by Modex.



4.         LentiVector(R) gene delivery systems

In gene therapy, the aim is to deliver a gene and its necessary regulatory
elements (the gene construct) to the cell surface, using a vector to mediate
the transfer across the cell membrane and, in some cases, into the nucleus. A
new and increasingly powerful vector system is based on lentiviruses, which
have similar features to retroviruses in the ease of manipulation, predictable
integration and reliable gene expression and regulation. However, their main
advantage over retroviruses is the ability to function in non-dividing cells
or cells that are dividing slowly - a feature of many clinically important
tissues.



Oxford BioMedica is a leader in the development and application of lentiviral
vectors. Its proprietary LentiVector(R) technology is protected by
international patents, including US patents for which notice of allowance was
received in 2001.



5.                 World Wide Web

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at 
http://www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk