Interim Results

Aortech International PLC
15 December 2000


                          AORTECH INTERNATIONAL PLC

          Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 September 2000

AorTech International plc, the Scottish-based manufacturer of cardio-vascular
devices, announces its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September
2000.


Highlights


  * Turnover continues to increase; £1.76 million in H1

  * Loss for the period £3.2 million, due primarily to increased development
    expenditure

  * Cash at bank £12.7 million

  * TruCOMMS - CE mark secured; reference centres in Europe & USA selected

  * Elast-EonTM - further evaluation agreements signed

  * External trileaflet research transferred to Belshill

  * Technology centre opened at Group Headquarters

  * Scientific and Medical Advisory Groups established


Gordon Wright, Chairman, commented:

'In our June statement we reviewed the significant advances achieved in the
development of AorTech's technologies and innovative products. This excellent
progress has continued and has been reflected with the Company receiving
further prestigious awards.

'We are pleased to confirm that the unique features of the TruCCOMS system, in
particular its immediate response to changes in cardiac output, have resulted
in significant interest from both distributors and physicians.

'There has been continued excellent progress on our new synthetic trileaflet
heart valve project. The analysis of explanted valves from the six-month
in-vivo trials resulted in a paper being presented at the European Association
for Artificial Organs Congress. The conclusion from this paper was that
biostable polyurethanes demonstrated improved blood compatibility, leaving
leaflets flexible and valve function unimpaired.

' We are confident that, building on the opportunities that the new
technologies open up for new products and new markets, the prospects for the
AorTech Group are excellent.'

                                                              15 December 2000


ENQUIRIES:

AorTech International plc                          Tel: [phone]
Eddie McDaid, Managing Director

Bell Lawrie White & Co.                            Tel: [phone]
Clive Thomson / Elizabeth Kennedy

College Hill                                       Tel: [phone]
Michael Padley / Nicholas Nelson

Chairman's & Managing Director's Statement


In our June statement in the Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2000,
we reviewed the significant advances achieved in the development of AorTech's
technologies and innovative products. This excellent progress has continued
and has been reflected with the company receiving further prestigious awards
during the period.


Milestones and achievements during the period include:


  * The award in July, 2000 of the European regulatory CE mark for our
    Continuous Cardiac Output monitoring system (TruCCOMS) which enables
    AorTech to commence marketing in Europe. This follows the earlier award of
    FDA approval, enabling marketing to commence in the USA;

  * Presentation of clinical results of the TruCCOMS system at the British
    Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia Conference;

  * Significant expansion of our clean room facility in Scotland in
    preparation for the increased production of TruCCOMS in the next few
    years;

  * Presentation of the excellent results from the six-month in-vivo trials
    of our new synthetic tri-leaflet heart valve in a paper at the European
    Association of Artificial Organs Congress in Switzerland in September,
    2000;

  * Continued progress on the accelerated durability testing of the
    Elast-EonTM material to be used for the trileaflet heart valve, now
    exceeding 500 million cycles, equivalent to approximately 13 years as a
    human implant;

  * Establishment of our Scientific Advisory Group and Medical Advisory
    Group;

  * Introduction of the new Elan stentless tissue valve, extending the range
    of our tissue valves in response to their increasing use by surgeons.


Results for the Half Year to 30 September 2000

Development expenditure incurred during the six months was approximately £
1,900,000 compared to development expenditure of approximately £612,000
incurred for the same period last year. The increase in this expenditure
reflects the focus of AorTech in developing its new innovative products.

Sales of AorTech's established products, (mechanical and tissue heart valves,
Mitral Repair System, together with contract work) continue to increase and
contribute towards the costs of the development of these new innovative
technologies. The revenues from these products were £1,757,000 and provided
gross margins of 56% for the period.

In line with previous years we anticipate revenues of established products in
the second half of this financial year being stronger than in the first half.
With the introduction of our new Elan stentless tissue valve the company
expects further increases in the sale of our established products in the
ensuing financial year.


Through the acquisition of the Tissuemed valve business in August, 1999
AorTech demonstrated its foresight in recognising the future trends in the
growth of the tissue valve segment of the heart valve replacement market and
this has been fully justified with global market trends confirming the move
from mechanical to tissue heart valve replacement.

The strength of the pound relative to other European currencies has
necessitated price reductions to several of our European distributors in order
to compete in these countries. However, we are pleased to confirm that by
addressing manufacturing costs of our tissue valves we have achieved a
reduction in these costs through increased efficiency and, as a result, we
anticipate a further increase in gross profit margin from our established
products during the course of the next financial year.

The group loss before taxation for the six months to 30 September, 2000 was £
2,728,919 which, although a significant increase over the loss of £762,199
during the preceding comparative period, should be seen in the context of our
new accounting policy introduced during the year ended 31 March, 2000 whereby
all development expenditure was expensed as incurred. As mentioned previously
development expenditure incurred during the six month period was £1,900,861
(1999: £612,528) and the amortisation of goodwill and intellectual property
was £629,555 (1999 £21,870) both of which have been charged before arriving at
our net loss.


TruCCOMS

With European regulatory approval now obtained for our TruCCOMS system and
with FDA approval last year, it is AorTech's intention to market this new
innovative product (through clinical studies) in selected reference centres in
Europe and the USA. We are pleased to confirm that the unique features of the
TruCCOMS system, in particular its immediate response to changes in cardiac
output, have resulted in significant interest from both distributors and
physicians. To exploit the technology fully and to achieve significant market
penetration of sales of the system it is our strategy to produce clinical
papers from patient studies in a number of centres to confirm both its unique
features and patient benefits. We believe this will enable AorTech to achieve
substantial sales of TruCCOMS such that it will be the major contributor to
the Group's revenue in the short to medium term. The Company expects sales of
TruCCOMS to commence in the first quarter of 2001.


Trileaflet Heart Valve

There has been continued excellent progress on our new synthetic trileaflet
heart valve project. The analysis of explanted valves from the six-month
in-vivo trials resulted in a paper being presented at the European Association
for Artificial Organs Congress in Switzerland in September this year. The
conclusion from this paper was that biostable polyurethanes demonstrated
improved blood compatibility, leaving leaflets flexible and valve function
unimpaired. Biostable polyurethanes may thus improve prospects for prolonged
function of synthetic heart valve prostheses.

The durability testing of the valve is continuing satisfactorily and the
Elast-EonTM material chosen for our new heart valve is demonstrating its
unique biostability relative to all other known polyurethanes.

Plans are being put in place for all regulatory in-vivo work to be carried out
in the USA during the first half of 2001, in order to meet both European and
FDA regulatory requirements.

The objectives of the new trileaflet heart valve are to overcome the present
problems of replacement of diseased and damaged heart valves by mechanical or
tissue valves which, in the case of mechanical valves, require the patient to
take daily anticoagulation treatment and, in the case of tissue valves, lack
long-term durability.


Elastomedic and Elast-EonTM Materials

We are confident that the acquisition of Elastomedic, together with the
acquisition of the Intellectual Property and patents relating to the Elast-Eon
TM material, will represent in future years a major strategic event for the
AorTech Group. There have been over the last six months further material
evaluation agreements concluded with a number of major medical device
companies, to assess the potential for the utilisation of Elast-EonTM within
other medical implantable devices. The Group's objective is to secure in the
next two to three years supply and licence agreements with medical device
companies which will represent a future revenue source for AorTech.

It is the Group's intention to utilise, Elast-EonTM in other products that
will be developed by AorTech. In recognising the future potential of Elast-Eon
TM for the AorTech Group, we have already implemented plans for the expansion
of our facilities in Melbourne, Australia in order to increase the processing,
scale up and production of the Elast-EonTM material.


New Facilities

In June we opened our new 6,000 sq. ft. technology centre at our headquarters
in Bellshill, Scotland and the transfer of the Intellectual Property and
Technology of the new trileaflet valve from universities to our facilities, we
have committed further funding towards capital equipment and cleanroom
expansion as we move into the final phase in the development of the trileaflet
valve.

A new office and warehouse in Michigan, USA are now open, and we are
evaluating several options for the expansion of our operations in the USA.


Scientific Advisory Group

We are pleased to confirm that, in November this year, we established our
Scientific Advisory Group. The aim of this Group is to assist the Company in
the resolution of important scientific and technological issues and the
identification of opportunities for further developments, based upon AorTech's
new technologies and core competences. The initial members of this Group are
among the world's leading authorities in their various fields and include: -

Dr. Thien How, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Engineering at the University of
Liverpool, who specialises in the analysis of blood flow in the cardiovascular
system.

Professor Gordon Meijs who is a leading Polymer Scientist and one of the
world's foremost polyurethane chemists. Professor Meijs heads the work on
biomaterials at the renowned division of Molecular Science at CSIRO in
Melbourne, Australia.

Professor Stuart Cooper, currently Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
of the prestigious Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and is
recognised as one of the world's leading authorities on polyurethane
technology and the medical application of polymeric biomaterials.

Professor Ajit Yoganathan, who is Regent Professor of Biomedical Engineering
at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA. Professor Yoganathan
is one of the world's leading authorities on the fluid mechanics of heart
valves and has helped to establish Georgia Institute as an internationally
renowned centre for cardiovascular engineering and tissue engineering.
Professor Yoganathan is an advisor to the FDA on heart valve performance.


Medical Advisory Group

We are also pleased to report the setting up of our Medical Advisory Group,
whose members are physicians of international repute, with the aim of
assisting and providing medical advice to the Group on various clinical issues
in relation to our products and technologies. The initial members of this
Medical Group are: -

Professor David Wheatley, who is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in
Edinburgh and was appointed British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiac
Surgery at the University of Glasgow and Honorary Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
to Greater Glasgow Health Board in 1979. Professor Wheatley is Past President
of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons and President of the
Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. Professor
Wheatley's research is particularly related to techniques and materials in
cardiac surgery, especially in relationship to the evaluation and design of
artificial heart valves.

Professor Reiner Korfer who is a world-renowned surgeon and is Medical
Director of Herz-zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen which is one of the largest
cardiac centres in the world. He is Head of Department of Thoracic and
Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Professor Korfer's expertise is in the area of heart transplantation and
cardiac assist devices and he is on the scientific panel for many
international publications.

Professor Alessandro Frigiola, currently Surgeon in Chief of the First
Division of Cardiac Surgery at the E.Malan Centre of San Donato Hospital, the
largest cardiac centre in Italy.

Professor Hans Huysmans, Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the University
Hospital of Leiden, The Netherlands, is an internationally renowned surgeon
known particularly for his work in biological heart valves over the last two
decades. Professor Huysmans sits on the scientific committees of many leading
journals and international committees.

Mr. Samer Nashef is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Papworth Hospital,
Cambridge, a world-recognised centre for cardiac transplantation and cardiac
surgery. Mr. Nashef has pioneered work in the area of continuous cardiac
output monitoring and has been instrumental in the areas of cardiac surgical
audit, both in the UK and abroad.


Future Prospects

AorTech has now secured strong foundations in three major areas which will
sustain the future long-term growth of the Group. These areas are:

  * Heart Valves - a new synthetic trileaflet heart valve which we expect
    will represent one of the most significant developments in heart valve
    replacement over the last 20 years.

  * Biomaterials - a new generation of biostable materials - Elast-EonTM;

  * Critical Care - a new generation for continuous cardiac output -
    TruCCOMS


We are confident that building on the foundations laid, as these technologies
open up new products and new markets, that the prospects for the AorTech Group
are excellent. We are therefore reviewing continuously the various methods by
which we are able to increase both the growth of AorTech and the opportunities
appropriate to our technologies.

High quality personnel at all levels are being recruited within the Group, in
particular at the Senior Management level and Divisional Director level. It is
the quality of our people that will determine the future growth of the AorTech
Group and with the outstanding contribution from our personnel, we are
confident that AorTech will deliver our high expectations.

We are proud to be involved with such an outstanding group of individuals and
to have the opportunity to lead AorTech to the forefront of innovative cardiac
medical devices.

We take this opportunity to thank all of our teams, both within and outwith
the AorTech Group for their outstanding contributions and also to thank our
shareholders for their continued significant support.

J.G. WRIGHT                     E. McDAID
Chairman                        Managing Director

15 December 2000


               CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT (UNAUDITED)

                                                            restated
                                             six months   six months 
                                                  ended        ended year ended
                                           30 September 30 September   31 March
                                                   2000         1999       2000
                                     Note             £            £          £


Turnover                              2      1,756,511    1,619,266  3,452,246

Cost of sales                                 (781,224)    (644,848) (1,359,304)


Gross Profit                                   975,287      974,418   2,092,942


Selling and marketing costs                   (451,890)    (410,399)   (744,627)
Administrative expenses                     (3,695,399)  (1,271,108) (3,096,390)
     Administrative expenses
     include:
     Development expenditure               (1,900,858)  (612,528)    (1,476,626)
     Amortisation of intangible            (629,555)     (21,870)      (162,093)
     fixed assets

Group operating loss                        (3,172,002)    (707,089) (1,748,075)
Share of operating loss of                           -      (39,226)   (85,128)
associate

Operating loss including associate          (3,172,002)    (746,315) (1,833,203)
Interest receivable                            457,691       11,068    113,911
Interest payable                               (14,607)     (26,952)   (45,189)

Loss on ordinary activities
before and after taxation             2     (2,728,918)    (762,199) (1,764,481)

Loss per ordinary share               3         (9.15p)      (3.62p)    (7.71p)



Statement of total recognised losses


Loss for the period                    (2,728,918)    (762,199)     (1,764,481)

Currency translation differences
arising on consolidation                   (1,745)        (506)         (2,020)


Total recognised losses                (2,730,663)    (762,705)     (1,766,501)


Prior year adjustment              5                                  (919,193)


                                                                    (2,685,694)



                    CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (UNAUDITED)

                                                             restated
                                             30 September 30 September  31 March
                                                     2000         2000      1999
                                                        £           £         £

Fixed assets

Intangible assets                             22,998,520   2,411,324  23,540,817

Tangible assets                                1,746,886   1,014,959  1,252,521

Investment in associated undertaking                   -     681,900         -


                                               24,745,406   4,108,183 24,793,338

Current assets

Stocks                                         2,181,324   1,854,695  1,957,466

Debtors                                        1,896,271   1,298,400  1,583,860

Cash at bank                                  12,740,544   2,066,324  16,032,106


                                              16,818,139   5,219,419  19,573,432


Creditors: amounts falling due within one    (1,723,267) (2,054,949) (2,371,631)
year


Net current assets                            15,094,872   3,164,470  17,201,801


Total assets less current liabilities         39,840,278   7,272,653  41,995,139

Creditors: amounts falling due after more       (134,375)   (420,875) (364,472)
than one year

Accruals and deferred income                     (46,316)   (156,177)  (78,329)

Net assets                                    39,659,587   6,695,601  41,552,338


Capital and reserves
Called up share capital                        7,534,841   6,015,845  7,284,841


Share premium account                         42,122,184   6,942,735  41,534,272

Other reserve                                (2,003,143) (2,003,143) (2,003,143)
Profit and loss account                      (7,994,295) (4,259,836) (5,263,632)


Shareholders' funds                           39,659,587   6,695,601  41,552,338



                 CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT (UNAUDITED)

                                                             restated
                                               six months  six months       year
                                                    ended       ended      ended
                                             30 September 30 September  31 March
                                                     2000        1999      2000 
                                                        £           £         £


Net cash outflow from operating activities   (2,178,131) (1,033,966) (2,084,253)
(see below)
Returns on investment and servicing of           146,749     (20,896)   58,522
finance
Capital expenditure and financial            (1,076,208)   (683,184)(3,315,281)
investment

Cash outflow before management
of liquid resources and financing            (3,107,590) (1,738,046) (5,341,012)

Management of liquid resources                3,169,655 (1,341,478) (14,879,507)
Financing                                      (180,728)  3,227,591  20,320,644


(Decrease)/Increase in cash in the period       (118,663)    148,067   100,125


Reconciliation of operating loss to net cash outflow from operating activities

                                                            restated
                                            six months    six months 
                                                 ended         ended year ended
                                          30 September  30 September   31 March
                                                  2000          1999       2000
                                                     £             £          £


Continuing activities
Operating loss                             (3,172,002)     (746,315) (1,833,203)
Amortisation of intangible fixed assets       629,555        21,870    162,093
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets         307,000        86,010    250,819
Gain on sale of tangible fixed assets            (415)      (14,311)   (14,395)
Share of loss of associated undertaking             -             -     85,128
Release from deferred grants                  (32,013)      (25,000)   (98,977)
Increase in stocks                           (223,858)     (202,821)  (205,592)
Increase in trade debtors                     (24,950)      (19,770)  (298,402)
(Increase)/decrease in prepayments            (32,851)       46,561    (38,500)
Decrease/(increase) in other debtors           44,738      (165,517)   (65,117)
Increase/(decrease) in trade creditors        361,889       (67,298)  (329,261)
Increase in other taxes and social             22,995         4,451     18,136
security
(Decrease)/increase in accruals and           (58,219)       48,174    283,018
other creditors


Net cash outflow from operating            (2,178,131)   (1,033,966) (2,084,253)
activities



                NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

 1. Basis of preparation

    These unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the
    basis of the accounting policies set out in the group's annual report for
    the year ended 31 March 2000.

    The financial information contained in these interim financial statements
    does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 240
    of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information for the year ended 31
    March 2000 is an extract from the latest published financial statements
    that have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and on which the
    auditors' report was unqualified.

 2. Segmental analysis by class of business and geographical area

    (a) Class of business The group operates in one class of business

    (b) Geographical area The analysis by geographical area of the group's      
        turnover, loss before tax and net assets is set out below:

                   six months ended       six months ended       year ended
                  30 September 2000      30 September 1999    31 March 2000
                sales by    sales by     sales by   sales by  sales by  sales by
             destination      origin  destination     origin destination  origin
                 £              £           £            £        £         £
    (i)
    Turnover
    Geographical
    segment
    United      388,968  1,404,585     284,587  1,380,665    746,611  2,794,200
    Kingdom
    Rest of   1,341,136    346,096   1,313,918    238,601  2,657,063    658,046 
    Europe
    Rest of      26,407      5,830      20,761          -     48,572          -
    World
              1,756,511  1,756,511   1,619,266  1,619,266  3,452,246  3,452,246


                                                     restated
                          six months ended   six months ended   six months ended
                              30 September       30 September           31 March
                                      2000               1999               2000
    (ii) Loss before tax                 £                  £                  £
    Geographical segment
    United Kingdom              (2,629,076)          (748,750)       (1,711,022)
    Rest of Europe                     217              2,435             5,230
    Rest of World                 (543,143)                 -          (127,411)
    Loss before interest        (3,172,002)          (746,315)       (1,833,203)
    Net interest receivable        443,084            (15,884)           68,722
                                (2,728,918)          (762,199)       (1,764,481)
    (iii) Net assets
    Geographical segment
    United Kingdom              37,480,484          6,489,986        40,908,269
    Rest of Europe                 286,981            205,615           324,319
    Rest of World                1,892,122                  -           319,750
                                39,659,587          6,695,601        41,552,338



             NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) continued

 3. Loss per ordinary share

The loss per ordinary share is calculated on the loss of the Group of £
2,728,918 for the six months to 30 September 2000 (six months ended 30
September 1999, £762,199, year ended 31 March 2000: £1,764,481) and on th
following number of shares:

 a. 29,838,813 equity shares being the weighted average number of shares in
    issue during the six months ended 30 September 2000.
 b. 21,076,041 equity shares being the weighted average number of shares in
    issue during the six months ended 30 September 1999.
 c. 22,887,273 equity shares being the weighted average number of shares in
    issue during the year ended 31 March 2000.


 1. Analysis of net funds

                                    1 April    cash     non-cash  30 September
                                       2000    flow      changes          2000
                                          £       £           £              £

    Net cash
    Cash at bank and in hand      16,032,106  (3,288,318)  (3,244)  12,740,544
    Deposits treated as liquid   (15,374,571)  3,169,655        -  (12,204,916)
    resources
                                     657,535    (118,663)  (3,244)     535,628
    Liquid resources
    Deposits included in cash     15,374,571  (3,169,655)       -   12,204,916
    Debt
    Debt due within one year        (279,878)    151,640  (71,611)    (199,849)
    Debt due after more than 
    one year                        (209,472)          -   75,097     (134,375)
                                    (489,350)    151,640    3,486     (334,224)
    Net funds                     15,542,756  (3,136,678)     242   12,406,320


 2. Prior year adjustment

During the year ended 31 March 2000, the Group changed its accounting policy
with regard to development costs. Comparative figures for the six months ended
30 September 1999 have been adjusted to reflect this change, the effect being
to increase the loss for that period by £651,754 and to reduce shareholders'
funds at 30 September 1999 by £1,570,947.


  Copies of the Report & Accounts will posted to shareholders in due course.
  This statement will be available for a period of 14 days from the Company's
  registered office: Phoenix Crescent, Strathclyde Business Park, Bellshill,
                              Scotland ML4 3NU.