Large Scale Biology Corporation Exercises Option to Expand Licensing Agreement in Plant Functional Genomics with Plant Bioscience Ltd.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

VACAVILLE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 4, 2001

In an exercise of additional licensing options, Large Scale Biology Corporation (Nasdaq:LSBC) and Plant Bioscience Ltd. (PBL), Norwich, U.K., announced today that LSBC(TM) has expanded its field of use to include all higher plants including the commercially relevant monocots for which LSBC already has developed a series of proprietary and exclusive GENEWARE(R) vectors for cereal crops.

Under the terms of the original agreement announced in June of this year, LSBC exclusively licensed certain viral-derived gene silencing and overexpression technologies developed at The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, by Professor David Baulcombe and colleagues. Similarly, LSBC has been licensed exclusively by PBL to employ certain other viral-derived technologies for gene silencing and enhanced gene expression developed at North Carolina State University by Professor Niki Robertson and at the University of South Carolina by Professor Vicki Vance.

"We anticipate many commercial applications for LSBC technology in agricultural markets and expect our expanded alliance with PBL to accelerate our progress in making solid deals," said Robert L. Erwin, chairman and CEO of LSBC. "Adding the strength of our alliance with PBL to our record of three years in a recently concluded exclusive research collaboration in agricultural genomics, we are now positioned to expand our agricultural base." Among its broad genomic technologies, LSBC offers exclusive use of monocot GENEWARE vectors, gene discoveries for certain dicot crops and exclusive rights to collaborative gene discoveries for use in forestry, ornamentals and turfgrass, the genus Nicotiana, and all pharmaceutical applications.

Dr. Guy della-Cioppa, LSBC's vice president of Business Development, characterized today's announcement as "a strong message to agricultural partners about the extent of our plant capabilities." The expanded field of use under the PBL license, he said, "allows LSBC's patented GENEWARE functional genomics technology to include monocots as well as dicots as we introduce gene sequences rapidly into mature plants in just a matter of days, not months. We then study overexpression gain-of-function phenotypes or gene silencing (e.g. RNAi) loss-of-function phenotypes."

In Britain, Dr. Jan Chojecki, managing director of Plant Bioscience Ltd., called the expanded agreement "the ideal combination of two exceptionally strong technology packages resulting in a full platform of state-of-the-science options for all aspects of plant functional genomics and viral-based manufacture of valuable compounds in plants."

About Plant Bioscience Ltd

Plant Bioscience Limited (PBL) is an independent technology interaction and intellectual property management company established in 1994. PBL manages emerging technologies from the John Innes Centre (Norwich, U.K.), The Sainsbury Laboratory (Norwich, U.K.) and many other academic institutions around the world. For more information about PBL, visit the Company's website at www.plantbioscience.com.

About Large Scale Biology Corporation

Large Scale Biology uses its proteomics, functional genomics and biomanufacturing technologies to develop and manufacture personalized drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for rapid identification and effective treatment of disease. Corporate offices and the genomics operations are headquartered in Vacaville; the Company's proteomics operations are located in Germantown, Md.; and the Company's bioprocessing and manufacturing facilities are located in Owensboro, Ky. For more information about Large Scale Biology Corporation, visit the Company's website at www.lsbc.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current plans, expectations, estimates, and projections and management's beliefs about our future performance. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and which may cause our actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties see the reports filed by Large Scale Biology Corporation with the Securities Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, Large Scale Biology Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements.

Note to Editors: GENEWARE(R) and LSBC(TM) are trademarks of Large Scale Biology Corporation.