Argenta Discovery Appoints Dr Harry Finch, Co-inventor of ‘Serevent (TM)’ Asthma Therapy, as Senior Vice President, Therapeutics

Dr Hazel Hunt Promoted to Director of Chemistry and Operations

Harlow and Slough (UK) 1 November 2004 - Argenta Discovery Ltd., the respiratory drug development and contract drug discovery company, has appointed Dr (Ph.D) Harry Finch, a co-inventor of the asthma therapy ‘Serevent (TM)’ with over 30 years pharmaceutical industry experience, to be its Senior Vice President, Therapeutics. He will also be a member of the Argenta Discovery Board. Argenta has also promoted Dr (Ph.D) Hazel Hunt to Director of Chemistry and Operations.

Dr Finch spent 25 years of his career at Glaxo (now GSK), latterly as Director of Chemistry (UK - 284 staff), where he was involved in a broad range of therapeutic projects including respiratory, inflammatory, cardiovascular, CNS and gastrointestinal programmes. In this capacity, Dr Finch managed and spearheaded a new, integrated chemistry organisation. Prior to that Dr Finch undertook a series of senior Research roles at Glaxo, during which time he gained an exemplary track record in drug discovery and co-invented Salmeterol (‘SereventTM’), a long acting bronchodilator for asthma.

Dr Finch joins Argenta from British Biotech/Vernalis, where as Research Director he was involved in the post merger integration, portfolio review and project prioritisation. Prior to that he spent two years as Research Director at RiboTargets, where he initiated and secured a series of academic and commercial collaborations.

At Argenta, Dr Finch will be responsible for broadening and accelerating the development of the company’s internal drug discovery programmes, which are currently focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Dr Hunt has over 15 years pharmaceutical industry experience and as Director of Chemistry and Operations she will be responsible for all contract drug discovery projects and manage a team of 60 scientists. Dr Hunt joined Argenta in 2002 from Celltech (formerly Chiroscience), where she spent eight years, latterly as Section Leader, Project Chemistry. In this capacity she was responsible for all the chemistry undertaken during a collaborative project with Schering Plough Inc, which resulted in a clinical candidate. Earlier in her career, Hazel worked as a Senior Medicinal Chemist at Glaxo.

Christopher Ashton, Ph.D., Argenta CEO said ‘I am delighted that a scientist with Harry’s credentials has elected to join Argenta and I truly congratulate Hazel on her promotion. Following the recent merger, Argenta Discovery is at an exciting stage in its evolution. We are determined to accelerate and expand our in-house respiratory and inflammatory drug development interests and grow our contract research business. Harry brings invaluable, directly relevant experience, including many years in respiratory drug discovery and a formidable industry network, which will enable us to secure top-flight collaborative deals. Hazel has an exemplary track record in chemistry and successful project management and I am confident that her team will thrive under her leadership.’

Dr Finch commented ‘This is a very exciting opportunity to lead a team of world-class scientists. I look forward to working with them to progress Argenta’s innovative lead candidates through to Phase II proof of concept studies in the next few years’.

Notes to Editors

Argenta Discovery was created in October 2004 through the merger of the respiratory and inflammatory drug development company Etiologics Ltd and the leading integrated drug discovery company Argenta Discovery Ltd. On merger the company raised £5.9 million ($10.5 million) from MVM Ltd., 3i, ABN AMRO Capital, Genavent and TTP Ventures.

Argenta Discovery has a world-class biology and pharmacology expertise and proprietary technology in chronic respiratory diseases including COPD. It is developing a number of internal proprietary programs in COPD with the goal of taking these as far as Phase IIa proof of concept before partnering. The company also provides integrated drug discovery capabilities encompassing medicinal, synthetic and analytical chemistry, biochemistry and computational techniques to a range of pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca plc, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, H Lundbeck A/S and Teijin Ltd. It leverages its industry experienced scientists to deliver rapid hit finding capabilities and to discover, convert and optimize hits and leads into potential drug candidates. Argenta employs approximately 120 people and is based in Harlow, Essex and Slough, Bucks, UK.

See also www.argentadiscovery.com.

For further information, please contact:

Chris Ashton, Argenta Discovery +44 (0) 1279 645 645
Nicki Brimicombe, NB PR +44 (0) 1883 732353