RNS Number:8057X
Cambridge Antibody Tech Group PLC
25 January 2001


For Further Information Contact:

Cambridge Antibody Technology        
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 263233
David Chiswell, CEO
John Aston, Finance Director       
Rowena Gardner, Head of Corporate Communications       

HCC De Facto (Europe)
Tel: +44 (0) 20  7496 3300
Adam Michael
David Speechley

ELAN Corporation
Tel: 001 212 407 5740
Max Gershenoff 
                                                                              
BMC Communications/The Trout Group (USA)
Tel: 001 212 477 9007
Brad Miles, ext 17 (media)
Brandon Lewis, ext.15 (investors)



CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY AND ELAN CORPORATION, PLC CREATE MAJOR ALLIANCE 
FOR HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE


Melbourn, UK and Dublin, Ireland  Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE: CAT) and
Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) today announced a strategic partnership
committed to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of human
neurological disorders. The companies will jointly discover and develop
antibody-based therapeutics targeted at a variety of neurological diseases and
disorders.  CAT will contribute its proprietary antibody phage display
technology and high throughput screening capabilities to the alliance, which
will capitalise on Elan's proven track record in drug discovery and
development of treatments for neurological disorders.

Under the terms of the four year agreement, the two companies will fund all
research and development jointly and share commercialisation profits equally. 
CAT will have primary responsibility for the discovery and optimisation of
human antibodies against multiple targets identified by Elan.  Elan will
evaluate clinical antibody candidates in pre-clinical models, manage clinical
and regulatory development and will be responsible for global
commercialisation.  Elan and CAT together have already identified over 40
targets in the field that will immediately become the focus of this alliance.

Commenting on the alliance, Dr. David Chiswell, CEO of CAT said "This is a
unique opportunity to combine CAT's powerful human antibody technology with
the expertise of Elan to take cutting edge therapeutic products for
neurological disease all the way to the market.  This exciting new alliance
represents the commitment of yet another world leading company to CAT's
approach of integrated, customised antibody drug development.  This reflects
CAT's objective, stated last year, to invest in building our drug pipeline. 
Elan and CAT share the view that the significant unmet medical need in a wide
range of neurological diseases may be met by a portfolio of human
antibody-based drugs".

Commenting further, Donal J. Geaney, Chairman and CEO of Elan, said  "This
alliance with CAT, a leading company in antibody technology, strengthens
Elan's commitment to basic research in the area of neurological disorders. We
are truly excited by the potential for novel therapeutics to emerge from the
synergistic combination of our experienced neurological research group with
the accomplished scientists at CAT".



Notes to Editors:

Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE: CAT)
CAT is a UK biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies in human
monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug development.  Based in
Melbourn, 10 miles south of Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around
200 people.  
CAT is listed on the London Stock Exchange, having raised #41m in its IPO in
March 1997. A secondary offering in March 2000 raised #93m. 
CAT has a world-leading platform technology for rapidly isolating human
monoclonal antibodies using phage display systems. CAT has an extensive phage
display antibody library, currently incorporating around 100 billion distinct
antibodies. This library forms the basis for the company's strategy to develop
a portfolio of clinical development programmes and for discovering new drug
leads using functional genomics.  Four fully human therapeutic antibodies
developed by CAT are at various stages of clinical trials. 
CAT works in partnership with other companies at all stages of the drug
discovery and development process. CAT's collaborations, past and present,
include: AstraZeneca,  BASF Pharma, Eli Lilly, Genentech,  Genetics Institute,
Genzyme,  Human Genome Sciences,   Immunex,  Oxford GlycoSciences,  Pharmacia,
Pfizer, Wyeth-Ayerst and Zyomyx. 


Elan Corporation 
Elan Corporation, plc is a leading worldwide fully integrated pharmaceutical
and drug delivery company headquartered in Ireland, with its principal
research, development, manufacturing and marketing facilities located in
Ireland, the United States and Israel. Elan is focused on the discovery,
development and marketing of therapeutic products and services in neurology,
pain management, oncology,  infectious disease, dermatology and on the
development and commercialisation of products using its extensive range of
proprietary drug delivery technologies. Elan shares trade on the New York,
London and Dublin Stock Exchanges
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