Ardana receives outstanding contribution to biotechnology award from Scottish Enterprise

Edinburgh, UK, 13 February 2004

Ardana Bioscience, the specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to better reproductive health, has received an Award for its Outstanding Contribution to Biotechnology from Scottish Enterprise.

Simon Best, Ardana Chief Executive said 'We are thrilled to receive this award which highlights our rapid progress since inception four years ago. This is a great start to an important year in which we will launch our first product, an androgen replacement therapy, in the UK. The fact that other biotechnology companies in Scotland are also making good progress makes it all the more gratifying.'

Ken Snowden, Director of Biotechnology at Scottish Enterprise commented 'Ardana is a pioneer in reproductive health and a leading light in the Scottish biotechnology sector. We were particularly impressed with the strength of its management team, its dynamic approach to business and ability to operate at an international level. Ardana is a great example of what can be achieved in Scotland'.

The company was notified of its win at the Annual Scottish Enterprise Biotechnology dinner, sponsored by IBM and held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on the evening of Thursday 12 February 2004.

For more information contact: Simon Best - Ardana - 44 (0) 131 226 8550 Nicki Brimicombe - NB Public Relations - 44 (0) 1883 732353

Notes for Editors

Ardana Bioscience is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on reproductive health. It aims to become a leading source of clinical and commercial innovation in the $20 billion human reproductive health market, which is growing at 9% per annum. In addition to the androgen replacement therapy which will be launched in the UK in 2004, Ardana has a rich development portfolio including Chronodyne® (terbutaline) for endometriosis-related infertility (being developed in collaboration with Columbia Laboratories (AMEX COB)) and GnRH analogs 'Teverelix' and 'Leuprorelin' for a wide variety of reproductive indications. Ardana's commercial focus is on key European markets and its therapeutic interests encompass androgen replacement, infertility, contraception, sexual dysfunction and obstetrics.

Since its inception, Ardana has raised £34.6 million in three funding rounds. Ardana investors include Merlin Biosciences Limited, MVM Limited (MVM), Techno Venture Management (TVM), ABN-AMRO Capital, 3i, ISIS Equity Partners plc, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership plc, Mitsubishi Corporation and Green Highlander, LLC. The company was created in July 2000 to commercialise research by the Medical Research Council (MRC)'s Human Reproductive Sciences Unit (HRSU) in Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been at the forefront of this area of research for the last 30 years. The MRC employs nearly 100 staff at the Unit, which currently receives total annual funding of £3.8 million. www.ardana.co.uk

The Medical Research Council (MRC), established in 1913, aims to improve health by promoting research into all areas of medical and related science. It is funded mainly by the government but is independent in its choice of which research to support. About half of the MRC's expenditure of approximately £430 million is invested in over 40 of its Institutes and Units, where it employs its own research staff. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities.

MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit (HRSU) Research at the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit is undertaken at a molecular, cellular and endocrine level to further understand the regulation of the human reproductive system, with particular attention to mechanisms that might be exploited for purposes of contraception or account for infertility, menstrual cycle abnormalities and disorders of pregnancy and foetal development. Immunological, hormonal and pharmacological approaches for the reversible regulation of human fertility are also under investigation. The Unit and the University of Edinburgh Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology combine to form the Centre for Reproductive Biology (CRB), a collaborative institution within the WHO Human Reproduction Programme and the Rockefeller Foundation Contraception 21 Initiative.

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