Investment in Manufacturing Plant

Phytopharm PLC
13 April 2000


            Phytopharm plc makes investment in manufacturing plant


Phytopharm plc (PYM: London Stock Exchange) ('Phytopharm') announced today
that it is making a 10% equity investment in Tumkur Chemicals Limited, a
manufacturing facility based in Bangalore, India. The facility has been
designed to meet international regulatory standards for good manufacturing
practice (GMP) with associated pilot plant and laboratory facilities. It will
be used to manufacture two of Phytopharm's products, P54 and P56.

Tumkur Chemicals is closely associated with Phytopharm's existing partner
Rallis India Ltd, which is a member of the Tata group of companies. In
collaboration with Rallis, Phytopharm has established plantations in the
Bangalore region for the controlled horticulture of the components of P54, its
anti-inflammatory and cancer chemo-preventive agent, and P56, its treatment
for hepatitis and liver disease. Both products are derived from Indian native
plants, and the close proximity of these growing sites to the new
manufacturing facility allows full control of the manufacturing operation.

P54 is currently the subject of a Phase IIa trial for cancer chemoprevention
and a Phase II trial for canine arthritis. Both studies are expected to report
before the end of the year. P56 was in-licensed from the University of Madras
in July 1999 and is currently under development as a treatment for Hepatitis C.

Commenting on the investment, Richard Dixey, Chief Executive of Phytopharm,
said:

'This investment in manufacturing gives Phytopharm a second GMP compliant
manufacturing site alongside the GMP facility in South Africa announced in
April last year.  The new site in India will provide us with an infrastructure
from which to manufacture products in our portfolio. This will be particularly
useful for the veterinary products which are closer to launch, as well as
providing drug substance manufactured to high standards for our ongoing
clinical development of P56.'


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. These products represent a
new sector in the pharmaceutical market.

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.

In November 1997 Phytopharm entered a long term collaboration agreement with
Rallis India Ltd. Founded in 1822 in London, Rallis is the largest
agricultural business and second largest seed producer in India and currently
has over 10,000 hectares under controlled conditions of cultivation. The
Company also operates a substantial research station with facilities for the
clonal propagation of plants and the production of uniform plant populations,
and has a dedicated facility for toxicological assessment. The Company also
has an extensive interest in the production of bulk pharmaceutical products.

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