CAT Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Limited

RNS Number:9262O
Cambridge Antibody Tech Group PLC
19 December 2001

01/CAT/24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

07.00 GMT, 02.00 EST Wednesday 19 December 2001
For Further Information Contact:

Cambridge Antibody Technology               Weber Shandwick Square Mile
                                            (Europe)
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 263233
                                            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7601 1000
John Aston, Finance Director
                                            Kevin Smith
David Chiswell, Chief Executive Officer
                                            Graham Herring
Rowena Gardner, Head of Corporate
Communications
Incyte Genomics, Inc.

Paul Chirico, Investor Relations and        BMC Communications/The Trout Group
Corporate                                   (USA)

Communications                              Tel: 001 212 477 9007

Tel: 001 650 845 4589                       Brad Miles, ext 17 (media)

                                            Brandon Lewis, ext 15 (investors)

CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY GAINS ACCESS TO INCYTE LIFESEQ(R) GOLD DATABASE
 AND OPTIONS TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALISE HUMAN THERAPEUTIC ANTIBODY PRODUCTS


Melbourn, UK and Palo Alto, CA... Cambridge Antibody Technology (NASDAQ: CATG;
LSE: CAT) and Incyte Genomics, Inc. (NASDAQ: INCY) today announce an agreement
which gives CAT access to the Incyte LifeSeq(R) Gold database and options for
product development rights.

Under the terms of the agreement, CAT will receive access to Incyte's LifeSeq
(R) Gold database and to high quality, sequence verified human cDNA clones and
rights to use this information for therapeutic antibody product development.
In addition, CAT will have the ability to take several exclusive licences
under Incyte antibody patent rights to discover, develop and commercialise
therapeutic antibodies with specificity for target proteins in the database.
CAT will pay a licence fee, plus milestones and royalties in relation to
therapeutic human antibody products developed.

Dr. David Chiswell, CAT's Chief Executive Officer, commented "This alliance
with Incyte presents CAT with a further opportunity to deliver antibody-based
drugs to genomics targets. CAT is very pleased to obtain patent rights from
Incyte to research,

develop and commercialise antibody-based drugs. CAT has already demonstrated
the power of combining antibody phage display and genomics-based target
discovery, and this agreement adds a significant new source of
genomics-derived targets to fuel CAT's drug development pipeline."

"We're excited by the alliance with Cambridge Antibody Technology," said Paul
A. Friedman, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Incyte. "CAT has developed an
advanced antibody technology platform and is experienced in the development of

therapeutic human antibody products. In addition, this alliance demonstrates
our continued commitment to leverage our position as the leader of genomic
information and reaffirms the value of LifeSeq Gold for human antibody
therapeutic companies such as CAT."


                                    -ENDS-



Notes to Editors:

Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT)

CAT is a UK biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies in human
monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug development. Based near
Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around 250 people.

CAT is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ since June 2001. CAT
raised #41m in its IPO in March 1997 and #93m in a secondary offering in March
2000.

CAT has an advanced platform technology for rapidly isolating human monoclonal
antibodies using phage display systems. CAT has extensive phage antibody
libraries, currently incorporating more than 100 billion distinct antibodies.
These libraries form the basis for the Company's strategy to develop a
portfolio of antibody-based drugs and to utilise antibodies as tools for
target validation. Six human therapeutic antibodies developed by CAT are at
various stages of clinical trials.

CAT has alliances with a large number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies to discover, develop and commercialise human monoclonal
antibody-based products. CAT has also licensed its proprietary human antibody
phage display libraries to several companies for target validation and drug
discovery. CAT's collaborators include: Abbott, Elan, Eli Lilly, Genetics
Institute, Genzyme, Human Genome Sciences, Immunex, Merck & Co., Inc, Oxford
GlycoSciences, Pharmacia, Pfizer, Wyeth-Ayerst, Xerion and Zyomyx.

Incyte Genomics

Incyte Genomics, Inc. has developed the leading integrated platform of genomic
technologies designed to aid in the understanding of the molecular basis of
disease. Incyte develops and markets genomic databases and partnership
programs, related reagents and services. These products, programs and services
assist pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers with all phases of drug
discovery and development including gene discovery, understanding disease
pathways, identifying new disease targets and the discovery and correlation of
gene sequence variation to disease. In addition, Incyte has the largest
portfolio of issued United States patents covering human full-length genes and
the proteins they encode and is leveraging its intellectual property position
to be a leader in therapeutic discoveries. For more information, visit
Incyte's web site at http://www.incyte.com.



For CAT:

Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: This press release contains statements about Cambridge Antibody
Technology Group plc ("CAT") that are forward looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press
release may be forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

These forward looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding
CAT's present and future business strategies and the environment in which CAT
will operate in the future. Certain factors that could cause CAT's actual
results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the
forward looking statements include: market conditions, CAT's ability to enter
into and maintain collaborative arrangements, success of product candidates in
clinical trials, regulatory developments and competition.



For Incyte:

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth
in this press release including, without limitation, statements as to the
potential success of the parties in advancing the development of therapeutic
antibody products, Incyte's position as a leader in genomic information, the
ability of the agreement to assist and potentially accelerate CAT's
therapeutic discovery efforts, the revenue-generating impact that the
agreement will have for both companies, the ability of Incyte's products and
services to enhance the research efforts of, and provide value to, its
customers, and Incyte's ability to leverage its intellectual property position
to become a leader in therapeutic discoveries are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially,
including the extent to which the parties will succeed in identifying and
commercialising therapeutic antibodies; the ability of the parties to provide
products and services that meet market needs and that beat other substantially
similar products and services to market; the impact of competition and the
ability of the parties to compete against competitors that may have greater
financial and other resources; changes in the business plans of either
company; Incyte's ability to obtain patent protection for its discoveries and
to continue to be effective in expanding its patent coverage; and other risks
detailed from time to time in Incyte's SEC reports, including its Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Incyte disclaims
any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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