WITA Proteomics -- Pharmagene Alliance Completes Research Milestone in Drug Development Programme

WITA Proteomics AG announced today the completion of a proteomic evaluation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affected human tissue. The results will help identify new ways to treat this disease that is the 4th leading cause of death

For Immediate Release

WITA Proteomics -- Pharmagene Alliance Completes Research Milestone in Drug Development Programme
- Study Identified Proteins Differentially Regulated in COPD -

Royston, UK and Teltow/Berlin, Germany, 22 May 2002 - Pharmagene plc (LSE: PGN) and WITA Proteomics AG announced today the completion of a proteomic evaluation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affected human tissue. The collaborative study identified a number of differentially regulated proteins from the WITALITY database of 3,257 proteins compared to control tissue. COPD is the 4 th leading cause of death in the USA. The WHO estimates that in 2000, 2.74 million people died of COPD worldwide.

"WITA's High Performance ProteomicsTM has identified a number of differentially regulated proteins, including membrane proteins and enzymes, in this COPD study. The identification of proteins associated with COPD, followed by further validation, represents an important step towards the development of a treatment against this disease," commented Dr. Andreas Köpke, CEO of WITA Proteomics.

Dr. Alastair Riddell, CEO of Pharmagene, commented: "We are pleased that the collaboration has generated a number of potential targets which we will continue to validate. Using our broad range of capabilities in human tissue, genomics and functional pharmacology combined with our experience and expertise, we expect to create novel and validated drug target programmes which are protected by valuable intellectual property rights. This can only continue to add to our therapeutic programmes at Pharmagene."

The alliance, forged in March 2001, provides a unified target identification and validation package in human tissue, combining the strengths of high resolution proteomics with genomics and functional pharmacology. Pharmagene combines its experience, expertise and broad range of capabilities in human tissue, genomics, databases and functional pharmacology with WITAs high resolution proteomics platform as a seamless package to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The target identification-validation step is a critical step in the drug discovery process and currently represents a major expense and bottleneck in pharmaceutical R&D.

Founded in 1996, Pharmagene is a human tissue-based business serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Companys focus is to improve the efficiency of the drug discovery and development process. Pharmagene has three business offerings, Pharmagene PhaseZEROTM, Pharmagene TargetEvaluatorTM and Pharmagene Therapeutic, comprising Pharmagene Indication Switch TM and New Lead DiscoveryTM. Further information on Pharmagene can be found at www.pharmagene.com WITA Proteomics AG is involved in the mass identification of disease related proteins, with the purpose of identifying proteins of interest for the diagnostic, drug development and predictive toxicology markets through its high resolution High Performance ProteomicsTM platform. WITA Proteomics is certified according to ISO 9001 quality system requirements. Further information on WITA Proteomics can be found at www.wita-proteomics.com

For more information please contact:
WITA Proteomics AG
Dr. Andreas Köpke, CEO
Dr. Pascal Bolon, Director of Sales & Marketing
Tel: +49 3328 3508 61
Fax: +49 3328 3508 60
www.wita-proteomics.com

Pharmagene plc
Alastair Riddel, CEO
Neil Johnston, CFO
Tel: +44 1763 211 600
www.pharmagene.com