Large Scale Biology Corporation and the University of Cape Town Will Collaborate on Life-Saving Vaccines Derived from Living Plants for HIV/AIDS and Cervical Cancer.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

The Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has entered into an agreement with Large Scale Biology Corporation (Nasdaq:LSBC) of Vacaville, California, U.S.A., to collaborate on the development and manufacture of vaccines intended to protect against infectious diseases, including human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), for which there are currently no effective or cost-efficient vaccines. HPV is associated with cervical cancer and HIV with AIDS.

This extends a research collaboration first initiated in 1999 between Professor Ed Rybicki of the University of Cape Town and LSBC. Promising results already have been obtained for both HPV and HIV vaccines at UCT using LSBC's GENEWARE(R) system. The new collaboration will develop the most promising candidate vaccines so that they can be manufactured for clinical trials. "The vaccines will be manufactured using LSBC's proprietary GENEWARE technology to express relevant proteins in the leaves of living plants. Following preclinical trials, selected vaccine candidates will be manufactured at LSBC's bioprocessing facility in Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.A., and then delivered to the University of Cape Town for human clinical trials," said Professor Rybicki.

The comprehensive agreement grants the University of Cape Town a license to use LSBC technology for manufacture as well as the rights to the potential sale of successful vaccines in Africa. LSBC retains rights to the commercialization of the vaccines in North America and Europe. The collaborators will share commercial rights elsewhere in the world. In addition, the agreement allows both parties to pursue joint-funding for the vaccine development initiatives from governmental and philanthropic organizations concerned with accelerating the development of cost-effective vaccines and therapeutics for cervical cancer and AIDS.

Professor Rybicki of UCT said, "We are very excited about this collaboration, because it brings appropriate technology to South Africa to enable the development of cost-effective vaccines for Africa."

Robert L. Erwin, Chairman of LSBC, called this "one of the world's most important global women's health initiatives," citing more than 600 deaths daily from cervical cancer, all of which are associated with HPV.

Professor Anna-Lise Williamson of UCT, the overall project director, indicated that cervical screening and treatment programmes are inadequate in developing countries, so an HPV vaccine would have greatest impact for women in the poorest regions of the world. "In South Africa, it is estimated that 1 in 9 are infected with HIV and globally there are 14,000 new infections a day, so the need for an effective HIV vaccine is urgent," said Professor Williamson. "In order to deliver candidate HIV vaccines, we need to be part of the global initiative and LSBC is a good company to collaborate with to achieve this."

Welcoming the news of the new UCT alliance with LSBC, Dr Tim Tucker, Director of the South African Aids Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), confirmed that it was an integral part of SAAVI's mandate to develop an affordable, effective, and locally relevant HIV subtype C vaccine for southern Africa.

Dr. Carl Albrecht, co-ordinator of research for the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), said that organization has supported the HPV-vaccine initiative from the beginning and is "delighted with this excellent trans-global cooperation agreement which will help tremendously to make an effective and affordable vaccine against cervical cancer a reality in South Africa."

"This alliance is just the beginning of a very long process," said John D. Fowler, President of LSBC. "It is impossible to predict the medical or financial results of all the intense effort ahead. However, we are confident that an important key to saving time and costs in producing safe, effective vaccines and therapeutics for these global health goals will result from our GENEWARE technology platform. Our respect for the scientists of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town is great, matching our hopes for this ambitious humanitarian goal."

About the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town established the Institute for Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine in order to consolidate and expand major existing efforts to combat the most serious threats to health and overall prosperity in the region: infectious disease including HIV/Aids and TB, and non-communicable diseases including locally prevalent cancers and genetic disorders. The University of Cape Town's website is at www.uct.ac.za.

About the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative

The South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) was established in 1999 by the South African Government and a private sector company, Eskom, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council of South Africa. SAAVI aims to develop and test an affordable, effective and locally relevant preventative HIV vaccine for southern Africa in as short a time as possible. SAAVI is a growing consortium with approximately 150 people working in a coordinated fashion at various tertiary institutions throughout South Africa. SAAVI details can be seen at www.saavi.org.za.

About Large Scale Biology Corporation

Large Scale Biology uses its functional genomics, proteomics, 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 Division are headquartered in Vacaville, California; the Company's Proteomics Division is located in Germantown, Maryland; and the Company's Bioprocessing Division is located in Owensboro, Kentucky. For more information about Large Scale Biology Corporation, visit the Company's website at www.lsbc.com.

Some statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify these statements by words such as "intend," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "promising," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," or "continue" and variations of these words or comparable words. In addition, any statements which refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and situations that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements, including our ability to manufacture vaccines and therapeutics in commercial quantities, issues which may arise in securing regulatory approval for testing and marketing of products we make, unanticipated adverse results in drug discovery and clinical development processes, and the requirement for substantial funding to test and commercialize products we make. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties see the reports filed by Large Scale Biology Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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