Interim Results

Intl. Biotechnology Trust PLC
28 April 2003


28 April 2003

                     INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST Plc

The Board of International Biotechnology Trust Plc ('IBT') today announces its
unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 28 February 2003.

Summary

  • Net asset value per share fell 15.0% to 83.70p
  • NASDAQ Biotech Index fell 3.8% (sterling adjusted) and the Bloomberg UK
    Biotech Index fell 31.4%
  • Valuations of unquoted companies were unchanged
  • Total net assets at 28 February 2003: £40.7 million (31 August 2002: £47.9
    million)
  • New investments in three quoted companies - Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Galen
    Holdings and XOMA
  • Sales of five quoted companies - Arqule, Aspect Medical, Corvas,
    3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals and Weston Medical
  • No new unquoted investments were made


Andrew Barker, Chairman, commented:

'Most of the companies in our portfolio continue to make progress in the
development of their businesses, thereby building longer term shareholder value.
The timing of the stock market upturn remains hard to predict but I do believe
that in time the progress made by our portfolio companies will be reflected in
higher share prices and an increase in IBT's net asset value per share.  In a
sector where the development times for businesses are quite extended, the
importance of taking a long term view should be stressed.'



For further information, please contact:

International Biotechnology Trust plc, Andrew Barker, Chairman     020 7658 3206

Schroder Ventures Life Sciences, Kate Bingham/ Jodie Van Elst      020 7421 7070

GCI Financial, Annabel O'Connor                                    020 7072 4287

Website: www.internationalbiotrust.com



Chairman's Statement

PERFORMANCE

During the six months to 28 February 2003, net asset value ('NAV') per share
fell 15.0% from 98.5p to 83.7p which compares to a fall in the NASDAQ
Biotechnology Index of 3.8% in sterling terms and a fall in the Bloomberg UK
Biotechnology Index of 31.4%.

Market conditions in the biotech sector have been extremely difficult for
investors despite encouraging news from some companies.  In spite of this, the
NASDAQ Biotechnology Index has held up reasonably well, largely due to the good
relative performance of the shares of the larger, later stage and profitable
companies in the Index. The smaller, earlier development stage companies, where
IBT has a greater exposure, and which we believe have exciting longer term
prospects, have continued to fall in value, which has negatively impacted the
results.  More details about our investments appear in the Investment Review.
As I mention below, overall the unquoted investments have continued to make good
progress and their valuations have not been changed during the period under
review. At the end of February 2003 unquoted investments represented 55% of NAV.

SHARE PRICE AND BUYING BACK SHARES

In this difficult stock market environment discounts to net asset value across
biotechnology investment trusts have continued to widen and the share price of
International Biotechnology Trust plc fell by 27.5% from 76.5p to 55.5p, leaving
the shares selling at a discount to NAV of 33.7% at the end of the period.  To
date, the Board has not utilised the authority given to them at the Annual
General Meeting in December 2002 to purchase shares.  Your Board will continue
to review the situation on a regular basis.  Our decision will be influenced by
the market conditions at the time, the discount to net asset value and
availability of stock.

OUTLOOK

We believe that the fundamentals of the biotech sector remain compelling with
favourable economics for new product launches for unmet medical needs and
broader, more mature product pipelines.  Recent acquisitions and licensing deals
continue to demonstrate the importance of biotechnology products to the
pharmaceutical industry, with increasing competition for the best drug
candidates giving biotech companies the upper hand in negotiations.

At the same time we should recognise that it is unlikely that share prices
within the biotech sector will show a lasting improvement without a better stock
market environment. I would like to emphasise the point made in the Investment
Review, namely that most of the companies in our portfolio continue to make good
progress in the development of their businesses, thereby building longer term
shareholder value.  The timing of the stock market upturn remains hard to
predict, but I do believe that in time the progress made by our portfolio
companies will be reflected in higher share prices and an increase in IBT's NAV
per share.  In a sector where the development times for businesses are quite
extended, the importance of taking a long term view should be stressed.


Andrew Barker
Chairman



Investment Review

MARKET OVERVIEW

Market conditions have remained weak, with poor economic numbers and the war in
Iraq weighing heavily on investor sentiment. More volatile sectors such as
biotech remain out of favour and within the sector investors are focusing
attention on the larger, later stage and profitable companies, with little value
being attributed to smaller companies with earlier stage pipelines. This has
left many of these companies trading at valuations below net cash levels. The
IPO window remains closed and looks likely to remain so, at least for the
remainder of this year.

Newsflow from the biotech sector during the period under review has been broadly
encouraging. The profitable biotech companies have reported good earnings
numbers and a further positive sign has been the ability of a number of
companies to raise capital through secondary placings, although this has been
largely restricted to companies with Phase III stage products.

The Food and Drug Administration ('FDA') has approved several new drugs in
recent months including Biogen's Amevive for psoriasis and Trimeris' Fuzeon for
HIV. Whilst it is too early to determine the impact of the appointment of the
new FDA commissioner on the regulatory process, there are a number of promising
drug candidates which are expected to come up for approval and potential launch
in 2003, including portfolio company XOMA's Raptiva for psoriasis.

On the corporate partnering front there have been several interesting large
deals between biotech and pharmaceutical companies, such as the deal between IBT
portfolio company EyeTech and Pfizer, outlined in the Investment Review, and a
similar deal between Neurocrine and Pfizer for a Phase III insomnia compound,
Indiplon. These agreements clearly demonstrate the leverage that the biotech
industry has over the pharmaceutical industry when negotiating later stage
deals.

There has been some high profile mergers and acquisitions ('M&A') activity
including the $2.4bn acquisition of Scios by Johnson & Johnson and the
acquisition of Triangle Pharmaceuticals by Gilead for $464m. In both cases the
purchases have helped to broaden out the pipelines of the acquirers. Two quoted
portfolio companies, Corvas and 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals ('3DP'), were
acquired during the period under review.  Consolidation has also started to pick
up in the UK, with the acquisition of Ribotargets by British Biotech and, at the
time of writing, Celltech looking set to buy Oxford GlycoSciences.

PORTFOLIO NEWS

News from the portfolio companies has been generally positive, however the fall
in share price of Essential Therapeutics has been disappointing, accounting for
almost one third of the 15.0% fall in NAV during the period. Essential has been
delisted by NASDAQ because it does not meet the listing requirements of a
minimum of $10m in stockholders equity. This is partly due to goodwill charges
resulting from recent acquisitions, and partly due to charges resulting from the
elimination of some early stage programmes. In August 2001, IBT participated in
a $60m Series B convertible redeemable preference stock issue (which does not
count towards the $10m minimum in stockholders equity). Following the delisting,
holders of the Series B stock will have the right to redeem their stock and
demand the return of the $60m. However Essential only had $34m in cash at the
end of 2002, so it may be necessary for the company to initiate actions that
could result in dissolution, insolvency or bankruptcy.  These developments
combined with poor market conditions for smaller companies have led to a
collapse in the share price of the company. We remain strongly supportive of
management and hope to find a solution to this difficult position.




There have also been a number of positive developments within portfolio
companies during the six months under review. In the unquoted portfolio,
Auxilium received marketing approval in the US for its testosterone replacement
gel, Testim, and the product was launched in the US in February 2003. The
company estimates that the market for testosterone replacement therapy could
exceed $2bn by 2008, as awareness grows of the potential to treat many of the
symptoms associated with low testosterone levels.  EyeTech announced a
co-development and co-marketing agreement with Pfizer for Macugen, its potential
treatment for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema, both
leading causes of blindness. Pfizer will fund most of the remaining development
costs and will make an upfront payment of $100 million, with a potential
additional $645 million in milestones based on regulatory submissions, approvals
and sales levels. EyeTech has co-promotion rights in the US and Pfizer will
market Macugen exclusively under a royalty-bearing license outside of the US.
Micromet and Novuspharma announced an alliance to co-develop an anti-cancer
antibody and Sunesis and Merck & Co. announced a drug discovery collaboration in
the area of Alzheimer's disease.

Amongst the quoted companies, Adolor announced positive Phase III results for
the use of Alvimopan in the reduction of constipation resulting from opioid use
for pain relief in the post-operative setting. Alexion announced encouraging
Phase II data in acute myocardial infarction patients, showing a reduction in
mortality in those who had undergone primary angioplasty, despite missing the
primary endpoint of the trial. AnorMED started a Phase II trial to evaluate a
new agent in stem cell transplantation in cancer patients. Atrix Labs announced
the approval and launch of their 4-month prostate cancer product, Eligard.
Johnson & Johnson announced the acquisition of 3DP for $130m, and Dendreon made
a bid for Corvas, worth $73m at the time of announcement.  Both of these bids
were at a premium of more than 80% to the market prices of the target companies
before the announcements. Inflazyme expanded its collaboration with Aventis to
develop novel therapeutics for respiratory diseases. Epimmune announced a
preliminary agreement to merge with a private company called Anosys, which would
bring in a novel delivery technology and broaden out its pipeline. XOMA reported
encouraging Phase III data for Raptiva in psoriasis and filings for approval in
the US and Europe.

News from Weston Medical and Crucell was less encouraging, with Weston
announcing that manufacturing issues with its needle-free drug delivery device
would delay launch by at least two years, which resulted in a collapse in the
share price. Crucell had a difficult year, with rights to an antibody returned
by Centocor and difficulty in signing new antibody deals. The company is now
focusing on vaccine development and recently signed a deal with Aventis Pasteur.

OUTLOOK

Despite the poor share price performance of many smaller, biotech companies
during the period, investee companies have generally made significant
operational progress. Valuations of the smaller, earlier stage biotech companies
continue to look attractive and this is where the investment focus of IBT
remains.





INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

QUOTED COMPANIES

New investments were made in Inspire (£0.1m), Galen Holdings (£0.2m) and XOMA
(£1.0m).

Inspire is a US based company that discovers and develops new drugs to treat
diseases involving impaired protection and cleaning of the body's mucosal
surfaces and other non-mucosal disorders.

The company's lead compound, diquafasol, is for the treatment of dry eye, which
affects approximately 30 million people in the major markets worldwide.
Diquafasol has completed Phase III trials and Inspire plans to file for approval
in the US in mid 2003. If diquafasol is approved the company will co-promote the
compound in the US with Allergan, in conjunction with Allergan's drug, Restasis.
Restasis is the only currently approved treatment for dry eye and the combined
market size for the two compounds is estimated to be $1billion.

Inspire has a broad, promising pipeline behind Diquafasol with compounds in
Phase III trials for allergic rhinitis and lung cancer diagnosis, and Phase II
trials for cystic fibrosis and retinal detachment.

Galen Holdings is a UK headquartered specialist pharmaceutical company, although
most of its sales are in the US. It is focused on women's health, dermatology
and urology.

To date Galen has predominantly grown through in-licensing products from
pharmaceutical companies, but further growth is also expected through line
extensions of existing brands and its proprietary pipeline. Galen's first
proprietary product, an intravaginal ring for delivery of hormone replacement
therapy ('HRT'), was launched in the UK in 2001 and was recently approved in the
US. Two recent deals have enhanced the company's position in women's health. In
December 2002 Galen bought the US rights to the Eli Lilly drug Sarafem, which is
approved for the treatment of pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder, and in March
2003 it agreed to buy two oral contraceptives, Estrostep and Loestrin, and the
HRT treatment femhrt, from Pfizer.

XOMA was described in detail in the 2002 Annual Report. The company's lead
candidate, Raptiva, is for the treatment of psoriasis and is partnered with
Genentech. It has shown good efficacy in clinical trials with limited side
effects and has a convenient once weekly, intravenous dosing schedule.

In December 2002, Genentech and XOMA filed for approval of Raptiva in the US and
Genentech expects a response from the FDA in 2003. Serono is Genentech's
marketing partner outside the US and Japan, and in February 2003 it announced
that a marketing authorization application had been filed in Europe.

A further £0.1m was invested in Adolor (total investment £0.5m) and £0.7m in
Esperion Therapeutics (total investment £0.8m).

The holdings in Arqule, Aspect Medical, 3DP and Weston Medical were sold in
their entirety during the period, along with the remaining holding in Corvas.

Partial sales were made of holdings in AnorMED, Ribozyme and Targeted Genetics.

UNQUOTED COMPANIES

As discussed in the 2002 Annual Report the percentage of NAV invested in
unquoted companies remains high and as a result no new unquoted investments were
made during the period. In September 2002 a second tranche of £1.4m (originally
committed in August 2001) was invested in Affibody (total investment £2.7m).

PORTFOLIO SUMMARY AT 28 FEBRUARY 2003

IBT has investments in 32 companies - 22 quoted companies (making up 35% of the
NAV) and 10 unquoted companies (making up 55% of the NAV). The remaining 10% of
the NAV is made up of cash, money market instruments and other net current
assets.

A member of the Schroder Ventures Life Sciences (SVLS) team is on the Board of
10 of the 32 portfolio companies - Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Affibody, CancerVax,
Epimmune, Essential Therapeutics, EyeTech Pharmaceuticals, Galen Holdings,
Genosis, KuDOS Pharmaceuticals and Micromet.

In terms of the geographical split of the portfolio, 55% of the NAV is invested
in the US, 3% in Canada, 7% in the UK/Ireland and 25% in Continental Europe. By
sub-sector, 77% of the NAV is invested in biopharmaceuticals, 3% in drug
delivery, 1% in medical devices, and 9% in other areas. The remaining 10% of the
NAV is made up of cash, money market instruments and other net current assets.

Analysing the investments by the stage of their most advanced product in drug
development; six companies have products on the market, one has filed for
approval, 10 are in Phase III trials, eight are in Phase I/II or Phase II, one
is in Phase I and two are in pre-clinical development. Of the remaining four,
one is in late stage testing for a diagnostic device and the other three are
platform technology companies.

In terms of the cash positions of the portfolio companies, 21 have two or more
years of cash, six have between one and two years of cash and five have less
than a year of cash remaining.

VALUATIONS

The valuations of unquoted companies were unchanged during the period under
review. To recap, Aderis, Affibody, Auxilium, CancerVax, EyeTech, Genosis, KuDOS
and Sunesis are held at cost and Axxima and Micromet were written up in the year
ended 31 August 2002 following financing rounds with prices set by new external
investors. The carrying valuations of unquoted companies are reviewed weekly and
incorporate consideration of the progress of the underlying company against
milestones made at the time of investment and any upcoming need to raise
capital.

Of the 22 quoted investments five are held at a discount to their mid market
prices due to disposal restrictions, including SVLS presence on the Board and
limited liquidity. The effect of these discounts was to reduce the valuation of
the quoted investments by £0.5m at 28 February 2003.




Ten Largest Equity Holdings


                     Value of            % of
Company              Holdings   Shareholders'    Country    Business Activity
                        £'000           Funds

Micromet*               3,606            8.86    Germany    Micromet develops novel drugs to empower the
                                                            patients' immune system. The company's BiTE
                                                            compounds ('Bispecific T cell engagers') combine
                                                            the power of T cells with the selectivity of
                                                            antibodies to specifically target diseased cells.

Sunesis                 3,174            7.80      USA      Sunesis has developed and implemented novel
Pharmaceuticals*                                            technologies that reproducibly deliver
                                                            high-affinity, small-molecule, non-peptidic
                                                            ligands to important drug targets in a rapid time
                                                            frame.

Aderis                  3,174            7.80      USA      Aderis is engaged in small molecule drug
Pharmaceuticals*                                            development to treat central nervous system and
                                                            cardiovascular disorders. The company's most
                                                            advanced product candidate is in Phase III trials
                                                            for Parkinson's disease.

EyeTech                 3,174            7.80      USA      EyeTech's lead product Macugen is a potential
Pharmaceuticals*                                            treatment for the two leading causes of blindness
                                                            in the adult population, namely age-related
                                                            macular degeneration ('AMD') and diabetic macular
                                                            edema.  Macugen is currently in pivotal Phase II/
                                                            III clinical trials for AMD.

Affibody*               2,984            7.33      Sweden   Affibody is a leader in the field of combinatorial
                                                            protein engineering and is using this cutting edge
                                                            technology to create a new generation of
                                                            antibodies called Affibodies: small, novel, robust
                                                            ligands which can be engineered to bind to any
                                                            desired target protein.

Axxima                  1,995            4.90    Germany    An infectious disease, small molecule drug
Pharmaceuticals*                                            discovery company which seeks novel chemicals to
                                                            block signal transduction pathways required by
                                                            pathogens for their survival in the host.

CancerVax *             1,905            4.68      USA      CancerVax's lead product candidate, CANVAXIN, is a
                                                            therapeutic cancer vaccine in Phase III clinical
                                                            trials for the treatment of advanced stage
                                                            melanoma, a disease with few effective or
                                                            well-tolerated treatments.

Forest Laboratories     1,771            4.35      USA      Forest Labs is a specialty pharmaceutical company
                                                            that develops, manufactures and sells both branded
                                                            and generic forms of pharmaceutical products.

OSI Pharmaceuticals     1,408           3.46       USA      OSI's lead compound is a small molecule
                                                            anti-cancer compound called Tarceva. It is in
                                                            Phase III trials for non-small cell lung cancer
                                                            and pancreatic cancer and is partnered with
                                                            Genentech and Roche.

KuDOS                   1,400            3.44      UK       KuDOS is a leader in the discovery and development
Pharmaceuticals*                                            of novel small molecule drugs that inhibit DNA
                                                            repair enzymes and signalling pathways for the
                                                            treatment of cancer. The company's lead compound,
                                                            Patrin, is in Phase II trials for metastatic
                                                            melanoma.

                       24,591           60.42



 * Unquoted investments





International Biotechnology Trust
As at 28 February 2003


Investments by Stage
                                                                              % of NAV
Quoted                                                                            34.6
Unquoted                                                                          55.4
Net cash                                                                          10.0
                                                                                100.00


Investments by Sub Sector
                                                                              % of NAV
Biopharmaceuticals                                                                77.4
Drug delivery                                                                      2.9
Medical devices                                                                    1.3
Other                                                                              8.4
Net cash                                                                          10.0
                                                                                100.00


Investments by Geographical Sector
                                                                              % of NAV
USA                                                                               55.2
Canada                                                                             3.3
UK/Ireland                                                                         6.6
Continental Europe                                                                24.9
Net cash                                                                          10.0
                                                                                100.00



Note: Net cash is defined as cash and other current assets less current
liabilities.





International Biotechnology Trust plc
Unaudited Preliminary Results
Unaudited Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account)

                                     For the six months ended               For the six months ended
                                         28 February 2003                       28 February 2002
                                   Revenue      Capital        Total      Revenue      Capital        Total
                                     £'000        £'000        £'000        £'000        £'000        £'000
Losses on
  investments                            -      (6,698)      (6,698)            -     (22,510)     (22,510)
Exchange gains on
  currency balances                      -            1            1            -          169          169

Income                                  58            -           58          147            -          147
Administrative
  expenses                           (566)            -        (566)        (777)            -        (777)

Deficit before
   taxation                          (508)      (6,697)      (7,205)        (630)     (22,341)     (22,971)
Taxation                                 -            -            -            -            -            -

Deficit on ordinary
  activities after
  taxation                           (508)      (6,697)      (7,205)        (630)     (22,341)     (22,971)

Deficit per                        (1.04)p     (13.78)p     (14.82)p      (1.30)p     (45.95)p     (47.25)p
  ordinary share



The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the
Company.

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.






International Biotechnology Trust plc
Unaudited Balance Sheet
                                                                    28 February                         31 August
                                                                           2003                              2002
                                                                          £'000                             £'000

Fixed assets
Investments                                                              36,637                            43,584

Current assets
Debtors                                                    45                                  153
Investments                                             1,924                                1,889
Cash at bank                                            2,474                                2,912
                                                        4,443                                4,954
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due
  within one year                                         390                                  643

Net current assets                                                        4,053                             4,311

Net assets                                                               40,690                            47,895

Capital and reserves
Called up share capital                                                  12,154                            12,154
Capital redemption reserve                                               10,843                            10,843
Share purchase reserve                                                   67,083                            67,083
Capital reserve                                                        (40,875)                          (34,178)
Revenue reserve                                                         (8,515)                           (8,007)

Equity shareholders' funds                                               40,690                            47,895

Net asset value per share                                                83.70p                            98.52p





International Biotechnology Trust plc
Unaudited Cash Flow Statement
                                                                      For the                             For the
                                                             six months ended                    six months ended
                                                             28 February 2003                    28 February 2002
                                                                        £'000                               £'000
Operating activities
Dividend income received                                                    1                                   -
Current asset investment income received                                    8                                  63
Income from directorships                                                   7                                   -
Deposit interest received                                                   9                                  16
Management fee paid                                                     (319)                               (389)
Other cash payments                                                     (264)                               (387)

Net cash outflow from operating
  activities                                                            (558)                               (697)

Capital expenditure and
  financial investment
Purchase of investments                                               (4,134)                            (15,654)
Sale of investments                                                     4,253                              15,076

Net cash inflow/(outflow) from capital
expenditure and financial investment
                                                                          119                               (578)
Net cash outflow before management of liquid
resources and financing                                                 (439)                             (1,275)

Management of liquid resources                                              -                             (3,046)

Net cash outflow                                                        (439)                             (4,321)





Notes

The Interim Report will be mailed to registered shareholders in May 2003 and
from the date of release copies of the Interim Report will be made available to
the public at the Company's Registered Office at 31 Gresham Street, London EC2V
7QA.

This announcement is prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as set out
in the most recently published set of annual financial statements.



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