Research Update

Oxford Biomedica PLC
25 June 2002



         OXFORD BIOMEDICA JOINS THE FIGHT AGAINST LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE

Financial Boost for Motor Neurone Disease Programme From USA Amyotrophic Lateral
                             Sclerosis Association



Oxford, United Kingdom - 25 June 2002. Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE:OXB) 
('BioMedica') announced today that its motor neurone disease product development
programme, a collaboration with Dr Nicholas Boulis of the Centre for Functional
and Restorative Neurosurgery,  The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, had
received a grant of $120,000 from the USA Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Association, a prestigious charity dedicated to the fight against ALS or Lou
Gehrig's Disease, named after the famous baseball player. Lou Gehrig's disease
is one of the most devastating human disorders affecting the function of nerves
and muscles.

BioMedica is assessing a series of five genes as components of a product to
address the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) market of which Lou Gehrig's disease is
the most common manifestation. The genes, which have been selected to prevent
disease progression, will be delivered to motor neurones using the Company's
proprietary LentiVector(R) technology. The Company has already reported that the
LentiVectors(R) are able to deliver genes to motor neurones with very high
efficiency. It is anticipated that, within a year, up to two of these genes will
be selected as the component of the final product that will progress to clinical
trial. The grant from the ALS Association is to support this initial stage of
the programme, and it is anticipated that, pending regulatory approvals, the
phase I trials of the new product will be conducted in late stage ALS patients
at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

In ALS motor neurones die and, as a result, the ability of the brain and the
spinal cord to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With all voluntary
muscle action affected, patients in the later stages of the disease become
totally paralysed. Early symptoms of ALS include increasing muscle weakness,
especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing and breathing. When
muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurones that they require
to function, the muscles begin to waste away and limbs begin to look thinner.
Patients usually die from respiratory failure as a result of collapse of the
diaphragm muscle.

Over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year (15 new case a
day). Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an
average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. ALS is 20% more common in men than
in women. However, with increasing age, the incidence of ALS is more equal
between men and women. Half of all people affected with ALS live less than three
years after diagnosis. Twenty percent live five years or more; only ten percent
will survive more than ten years.

The incidence of ALS is approximately 2 per 100,000; the prevalence is 7 per
100,000. The financial cost to families of persons with ALS is exceedingly high.
It is estimated that in the advanced stages, care can cost an average of
$200,000 a year. Market estimates for a significant therapeutic product are of
the order of $0.5 billion for Europe and the USA.

Commenting on the programme BioMedica's Chief Executive, Professor Alan Kingsman
said:

'Over the past year we have broadened our neurobiology portfolio to include
products for Parkinson's disease (ProSavin(R)), nerve repair (Renurex(TM)) and 
now motor neurone disease, all based on our powerful proprietary LentiVector(R)
technology. The initial research costs for this new programme will be almost
entirely covered by the grant. We are particularly pleased that the prestigious
ALS Association has chosen us as the leading collaborator to bring a gene
therapy approach to treating this dreadful disease, it represents a considerable
endorsement of the quality of the Company's LentiVector(R) gene delivery
system'.



                                    - ends -


For further information, please contact:

Oxford BioMedica plc
Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive                Tel: [phone]

City/Financial Enquiries:
Mike Wort, James Chandler: Beattie Financial            Tel: [phone]

Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries:
Sue Charles, Katja Stout: Charles consultants           Tel: [phone]





Notes to Editors


Oxford BioMedica plc

Established in 1995, the Company specialises in the application of gene-based
technology to the development of novel therapeutics. Its three principal
activities are in the fields of gene therapy, immunotherapy and genomics, and
its principal therapeutic areas are in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the
London Stock Exchange in December 1996, and was promoted to the United Kingdom
Listing Authority Official List in April 2001 following a successful £35.5
million fund-raising.

Oxford BioMedica is headquartered in Oxford, UK and has operating centres in
Oxford and San Diego, USA.  Currently Oxford BioMedica has corporate
collaborations with Aventis, IDM, Nycomed Amersham, Valentis, Virbac and Wyeth.
BioMedica has two products in Phase I/II clinical trials: MetXia(R) for
late-stage breast cancer, and TroVax(R) for late-stage colorectal cancer.



LentiVector(R)

In gene therapy, the aim is to deliver a gene and its necessary regulatory
elements (the gene construct) to the cell surface, using a vector to mediate the
transfer across the cell membrane and, in some cases, into the nucleus.
LentiVector(R) is a new and increasingly powerful vector system based on
lentiviruses, which have similar features to retroviruses in the ease of
manipulation, predictable integration and reliable gene expression and
regulation. However, their main advantage over retroviruses is the ability to
function in non-dividing cells or cells that are dividing slowly - a feature of
many clinically important tissues including the central and peripheral nervous
systems.

Oxford BioMedica is a leader in the development and application of lentiviral
vectors. Its proprietary LentiVector(R) technology is protected by international
patents, including recently granted US patents.

BioMedica is developing products to treat cancer, Parkinson's disease and
retinopathy using vectors based on equine infective anaemia virus (EIAV). EIAV
is one of the most simple lentiviruses and is not known to cause disease in
humans. For use in gene therapy, the virus is engineered so that it delivers
only therapeutic genes and not viral genes. LentiVector(R) also has important
potential applications in product development and target validation of genomic
targets.



Motor Neurone Disease

Motor neurone disease (MND) is the name given to a group of diseases affecting
the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurones are the nerve
cells along which the brain and the spinal cord send instructions, in the form
of electrical impulses, to the muscles, primarily for movement. In the majority
of cases MNDs are severe and fatal. There is currently no effective therapy to
cure MND or prevent MND progression. The most common of the MNDs is Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).



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