Flotation of investee co.

Billam PLC
13 January 2004


                                 Billam Plc

                         Flotation of investee company

Billam Plc is pleased to announce that shares in its investee company EiRx
Therapeutics plc (EiRx) were admitted to trading on the Alternative Investment
Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM) on Tuesday 13 January 2004. Billam Plc
owns directly and indirectly a total of 35.6% of EiRx Therapeutics Limited. In
line with other shareholders Billam's pre-admission shareholding will be
locked-in for 12 months. The aggregate cost of this investment in Billam Plc's
balance sheet is £2.4 million.

Eirx Therapeutics

EiRx is a specialist provider of pre-clinical therapeutics to the pharmaceutical
industry. Its unique scientific expertise and knowledge in the field of
Apoptosis (a regulated series of events that occurs in cells and results in
their death) provide a base to discover and develop new medicines that will
safely and selectively repair this natural process in disease. The potential
benefits from these new medicines are enormous, since as many as 70% of all
human diseases have some defect in the control of Apoptosis.

EiRx principal activity is the discovery and validation of genes that are
involved in apoptosis and therefore potential targets for novel therapeutics. In
so doing, EiRx creates intellectual property that it out licenses or seeks to
exploit by other means.

For further details:

Billam plc Angus Forrest - 020 7336 1300
EiRx Therapeutics plc - Ian Hayes - 00 353 21 432 0847
Website www.Eirx.com




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