Proteus S.A. has entered into an agreement for the screening of a unique collection of micro-organisms from oil fields for novel industrial enzymes.

NIMES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 1999--Proteus, S.A. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a major oil-company. A unique collection of micro-organisms collected from oil fields is now available to Proteus for their industrial enzymes screening program.

Oil fields represents an exciting ecosystem because of their physicochemical conditions. Oil-bearing reservoirs are deep seated and include hypersaline and thermal environments which are conducive to the growth of halophilic and thermophilic Bacteria and Archaea. This biodiversity includes a large number of original species never described before. The collection includes many fermentative bacteria with original metabolisms, as well as strains involved in the degradation of aromatic containing compounds.

"This agreement comes only two months after our first agreement with IFREMER for their collection of hydrothermal micro-organisms" said Daniel Dupret, Chairman and CEO of Proteus. "This collection represents an exciting additional proprietary element for Proteus and its customers. It provides Proteus with a new reservoir of enzymatic activities which is very complementary to our existing collection. We will screen these micro-organisms using our proprietary PHENOMICS(R) screening technology to deliver novel enzyme to our customers. The resulting novel genes will also significantly enlarge our library of new molecules to be processed using our proprietary L-SHUFFLING(tm) directed evolution technology".

Proteus is a contract research company for the biotech industry. The company's research focus is on :

(i) the discovery and the design of novel industrial enzymes

(ii) the design of rapid nucleic acid analysis techniques. Both

activities are supported by specialist know-how and a portfolio

of intellectual property.