Release issued 15th November 2005

The deal will see the Abingworth Management Ltd providing an initial investment of £3 million into the new company, with the Agency transferring intellectual property which covers the use of botulinum neurotoxin components to treat a range of chronic diseases.

Welcoming the new deal, the Agency's Chairman, Sir William Stewart said: "The Health Protection Agency is committed to working with industry when this provides unique opportunities to provide new public health protection products. We expect Syntaxin Ltd to be the forerunner of other such companies involving the HPA. Included in the rights transferred to Syntaxin Ltd is work aimed at the re-engineering of botulinum toxin into a potent painkiller."

Professor Pat Troop, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency, said: "This is an important partnership for the Agency. It means that our cutting edge research will be developed into a product which will ultimately deliver direct health benefits to the public."

Syntaxin will acquire from the Agency the rights to an extensive research programme that has been studying how botulinum toxin works and which parts of the toxin molecule can be changed to develop compounds with potential medicinal benefit. Since many chronic illnesses are caused by cells secreting biochemical compounds, it is anticipated that in blocking them the technology will have broad application in the treatment of several serious diseases.

Included in the rights transferred to Syntaxin Ltd is the re- engineering of the toxin to treat severe pain, a project that the Agency has been developing in conjunction with the US company Allergan Inc for several years. The partnership with Allergan has also been transferred to Syntaxin.

The management team of Syntaxin will see Dr Charles R Penn and Dr Keith Foster transfer from the Agency into the new company as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer respectively. Dr Raj Parekh, a founder and formerly Chief Scientific Officer of Oxford Glycosciences and currently Chairman of Galapagos Genomics has been appointed Chairman of the company.

Notes to Editors

1) For further information the media should contact

Dr Phil Luton, tel 01980 612725, business@hpa.org.uk

Dr Charles Penn, tel 01980 619801, email: charles.penn@syntaxin.com

2) In addition to providing a co-ordinated response to emerging chemical, radiological and biological health threats, including the threat of bioterrorism, the Health Protection Agency also undertakes contract research, manufacture and service activities for industry. This includes contract research and development of vaccines against infectious diseases, process development and GMP manufacture of biologics derived from microbial fermentation and the development of novel therapeutics with healthcare benefits. In addition, a wide range of support services are offered from biosafety, through GLP immunoassay testing to in vivo studies and the supply of cell cultures.

3) Abingworth is a long-established venture capital firm dedicated to the life sciences sector on both sides of the Atlantic . The company invests across all stages of development, including early-stage as well as public companies. Founded in 1973, Abingworth has offices in London , Cambridge (UK), Menlo Park (California) and Boston .

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