ARGENTA/NOVARTIS SIGN TWO-YEAR DRUG DISCOVERY PACT.

Argenta Discovery Ltd, Harlow, UK, a contract drug discovery and respiratory drug development company, has entered into a two-year drug discovery collaboration with Novartis. Under the terms of the agreement Argenta's medicinal chemistry teams will collaborate with Novartis' scientists in the search for new disease therapies. The deal also provides Novartis with access to Argenta's other scientific disciplines.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr Chris Ashton, Argenta's CEO, said, "We are delighted that one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies has chosen to work with Argenta on this important program. This new agreement, which is the first since our recent merger with Etiologics, underlines Argenta's excellence in collaborative drug discovery. The deal involves a substantial commitment from Novartis and provides an excellent conclusion to a successful year of robust growth for our contract drug discovery business."

Under the terms of the agreement, up to 18 Argenta scientists will work on the Novartis program, which centres on the search for new diabetes therapies.

About Argent Discovery

Argenta Discovery was founded in August 2000 and has built a world-class reputation in drug discovery research. In October 2004 Argenta acquired the respiratory and inflammatory drug development company Etiologics Ltd. On merger the company raised A36.0 million ($11.1 million) from MVM Ltd., 3i, ABN AMRO Capital, Genavent and TTP Ventures.

Argenta Discovery has leading expertise in chronic respiratory diseases including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma. It is developing a number of internal proprietary programs in COPD with the goal of taking these as far as Phase IIa proof of concept before partnering.

The company's contract research division provides integrated drug discovery capabilities encompassing medicinal chemistry, computer aided drug design, biochemistry, in vitro screening and ADME to a range of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. It leverages its industry experienced scientists to deliver rapid hit finding capabilities and the ability to discover, convert and optimize hits and leads into potential drug candidates.

In addition the company provides its pre-clinical respiratory platform to a number of leading companies engaged in respiratory research, to assess compound efficacy prior to clinical development.

Argenta employs 120 people and is based in Harlow, Essex and Slough, Bucks, UK.

For more information, visit http://www.argentadiscovery.com.