Extension of Agreement

Phytopharm PLC
3 August 2000

                                Phytopharm plc
 Extension of Research Collaboration on Appetite Suppressant (P57) with Pfizer
                                     Inc.


Phytopharm plc (PYM: London Stock Exchange) ('Phytopharm') announces today the
extension of its Collaborative Research Agreement with Pfizer Inc. ('Pfizer')
for the development and commercialisation of P57, an appetite suppressant
derived from an extract of a South African plant.

Phytopharm entered a Licence and Royalty Agreement and a Collaborative
Research Agreement concerning P57 with Pfizer in August 1998.  Under the
Licence and Royalty Agreement, Pfizer acquired an exclusive world-wide licence
to develop and market P57, with Phytopharm receiving up to $32 million in
licence fees and milestone payments based upon the achievement of specific
objectives.  Phytopharm will also receive royalties on sales of P57 by Pfizer.
The payment of the first milestone of $1 million was announced on 29 April
2000 on completion of the Phase I does escalation studies.

Under the Collaborative Research Agreement, Pfizer has already contributed
over $7 million in a two year early development programme which has been
carried out by Phytopharm.  The extension announced today extends the funding
of this development programme by another year.

Commenting on today's announcement, Dr. Richard Dixey, Chief Executive of
Phytopharm, said:

'It has been both stimulating and exciting to be developing this potentially
important medicine in collaboration with the world's leading pharmaceutical
company.  The extension announced today moves us forward on the pathway to
commercialisation of P57 as well as giving further impetus to our partnership
with Pfizer.'


Enquiries:

Phytopharm plc                                   Tel:  [phone]
Dr Richard Dixey, Chief Executive

Financial Dynamics                               Tel:  [phone]
David Yates / Sophie Pender-Cudlip
                                       
                                       
                                       
NOTES TO EDITORS

Phytopharm plc

Phytopharm's business is to take both simple and complex mixtures derived from
plant sources into full pharmaceutical development.  The US Food and Drug
Administration call such medicinal products 'Botanicals'.  Botanical products
are whole or partially purified extracts of medicinal plants in which the
chemical composition is not fully characterised.  Apart from being a new
sector in the pharmaceutical market, botanicals also act as an enabling
technology to discover single chemical entities of clinical importance from
plant sources.

Phytopharm is the leading company in the development of botanical
pharmaceuticals.  It has developed a portfolio of 11 such products, nine of
which are in the clinical evaluation phase.  These products have been targeted
in the five therapeutic categories of anti-inflammatory treatments,
neurological disorders, dermatology, cancer and metabolic diseases.  In 1997,
Phytopharm was granted an Investigational New Drug (IND) approval in the US,
the first time an IND has been granted for a complex botanical product,
indicating that such products may be registered as prescription medicines.

P57 will be developed globally as a prescription drug for obesity, a rapidly
growing health problem.  The US, which represents the largest opportunity for
obesity drugs, has according to some estimates between 35 and 65 million obese
individuals.  The potential US market for prescription pharmaceuticals to
treat obesity is estimated to be worth in excess of $3 billion.  It is also
estimated that direct healthcare costs for obesity related disorders exceed
$75 billion, including costs for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and
osteoarthritis (Source: IMS).

More information concerning Phytopharm's activities can be found on its web
site at http://.wwwphytopharm.co.uk.