Grant awarded

Proteome Sciences PLC 11 April 2001 PRESS RELEASE 11th April 2001 PROTEOME SCIENCES AND MINDSET COMBINE EXPERTISE AND RECEIVE GRANT TO ESTABLISH PROTEIN MARKERS IN MAJOR ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH PROGRAMME Proteome Sciences plc ('Proteome Sciences'), the AIM listed proteomics and gene expression research company, and Mindset BioPharmaceuticals Ltd ('Mindset'), the Israeli Alzheimer's disease drug discovery and development company, are pleased to announce today that they have together been awarded a £450,000 grant by The Britech Foundation Ltd ('Britech') for a research programme into Alzheimer's Disease. Proteome Sciences will use its leading edge, high sensitivity proteomics techniques to map and quantify changes in protein expression using Mindset's highly regarded model systems for Alzheimer's disease which will be applied to the discovery of new targets for therapy and for new improved diagnostic markers for this highly prolific condition. The three year project will provide a unique and powerful partnership for drug discovery and diagnostic markers for Alzheimer's Disease. It has been estimated that there are about 1/2 million Alzheimer's suffers in Britain and, according to the American Alzheimer's Association, approximately 4 million people in the US suffer from Alzheimer's. Most of them are over the age of 65 and half of all Americans over 85 are thought to have Alzheimer's. By 2005, it has been predicted that this will rise to over 14 million people in the US alone. For a disease that can span from two to twenty years, the cost in the US is currently estimated at $180bn annually. The project has been awarded the grant by Britech, a joint UK-Israel body established to fund innovative research programmes between commercial entities in the two countries. Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive of Proteome Sciences commented:- 'Our association with this research programme and the opportunity to combine our proteomics skills with Mindset's experience in Alzheimer's in the research of this disease is another exciting development that will further enhance our specific and well established capabilities in the area of neuro-degenerative diseases.' Commenting on the award, Tony Warwick, Chief Executive of Britech, said 'We are delighted to be able to support this very exciting project and the new alliance between Proteome Sciences and Mindset. The biotechnology synergies between the UK and Israel continue to impress us enormously, and I'm confident we will be seeing many more high-quality projects in this sector'. For further information please contact: Proteome Sciences plc Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1932 86506 E-mail: psplc@compuserve.com Public Relations for Proteome Sciences Ikon Associates Adrian Shaw Tel: +44 (0)1483 271291 Mobile: +44 (0)797 9900733 E-mail: adrian@ikon-associates.com The Britech Foundation Ltd Dr Tony Warwick, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)118 988 0275 Fax: +44 (0)118 988 0375 E-mail: tony.warwick@britech.org Adi Riza, Manager Israel Tel: +972 3 754 9581 Fax: +972 3 754 9582 E-mail: britech@actcom.co.il Notes for editors: The Britech Foundation Ltd (www.britech.org) was formed in 1999 as a result of an intergovernmental agreement between the United Kingdom and the State of Israel to set up a £15.5m British-Israel industrial R&D Fund. This follows the success of other bi-national R&D funds deployed in Israel. The Britech fund is used to promote and encourage high-technology R&D collaboration between firms in Britain and Israel, and provides direct support for collaborative projects aimed at the development of commercial products or processes. Britech has offices in Reading, UK and Tel Aviv, Israel.
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