RNS Number:1824T
Tepnel Life Sciences PLC
19 March 2002

                                                                       02-TEP-02

    TEPNEL LIFE SCIENCES SIGNS FIRST DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT FOR ITS
                 T1000 AUTOMATED DNA PURIFICATION SYSTEM

    Japan's Takara Biomedical to distribute T1000 in Key Far East Markets

Manchester, UK, 19 March 2002...Tepnel Life Sciences PLC (AIM: TED), announces
today that it has signed its first distribution agreement for its recently
introduced T1000 Automated DNA Purification System. The agreement with Takara
Biomedical Co., Ltd, a division of Japan's Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd, covers the
marketing of the T1000, associated consumables and Tepnel's Nucleon manual DNA
purification products in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

The T1000, which was launched in December 2001, is Tepnel's first automated
system for plasmid DNA purification. This cost effective, dedicated system which
is specifically designed for academic laboratories and research laboratories
within pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries combines ease-of-use with
complete automation and excellent performance, and generates high-quality DNA
suitable for automated DNA sequencing systems.

Takara Biomedical Group is a division of the $1.5 billion Japanese beverage
company, Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. Takara Biomedical Group is a major supplier of
reagents, instruments, and analytical services to the Japanese biomedical market
and has its own sales/distributor network in other Asian countries. In Japan,
Takara Biomedical has gained over 50% of the domestic market of reagents for use
in genetic engineering research, such as PCR-related enzymes and kits,
restriction endonucleases and modifying enzymes. Therefore, the T1000 instrument
will be an important, highly complementary product offering, to researchers
working in the field of DNA analysis. Also, its success in offering many types
of service business makes Takara Biomedical a comprehensive supplier to the
biotech industry.

Under the terms of this multiple year distribution agreement, Takara Biomedical
will immediately purchase a number of T1000 systems and has committed to
on-going purchases for additional instruments. As well as the T1000, Takara
Biomedical will also distribute Tepnel's Nucleon manual DNA purification
products as well as future automated systems.

Commenting on the announcement, Ben Matzilevich, Tepnel's CEO, said: "Our first
distribution agreement for the T1000 is a significant milestone in Tepnel's
development. We are delighted that Takara Biomedical, one of the leading
suppliers of reagents, instruments and services to the biomedical market in
Japan, has become our distributor. We are confident that the initial orders that
we have received as part of this agreement will be the start of a steady revenue
flow from the key Far East markets. We are currently in discussions with
potential European and US distributors and are confident that we will make
further announcements over the next few months which will provide the world's
other major biomedical research markets with this exciting new product."


                                    - ends -



Further enquiries

Tepnel Life Sciences - 0161 946 2200
Carol Smith, Marketing Communications Manager



HCC De Facto Group - 020 7496 3300
David Dible / Mark Swallow





Notes to Editors



T1000



Tepnel's T1000 Automated Purification System for plasmid purification offers the
flexibility to process between 1 and 96 samples without user intervention in
under two hours. The T1000 automates the entire plasmid purification process to
ready-to-use DNA. The protocol is based on the use of unique dedicated magnetic
bead technology providing flexible and more convenient sample handling. The
result is high quality plasmid DNA which is suitable for use with capillary and
slab gel based automated sequencing systems. Further advantages of the T1000
include the ability to recover low volumes and high concentrations of plasmid
DNA with less stringent material requirements. The T1000 is the first automated
system for DNA purification from Tepnel Life Sciences. Further automated systems
for genomic DNA purification are in development.





Tepnel Life Sciences is a global biotechnology company with a "tripolar"
strategy focused on providing the biomedical industry with high-throughput
automated DNA purification systems, manual DNA purification kits and reagents,
as well as scientific services for nucleic acid purification, drug analysis,
genotyping and genetically modified foods (GMOs).



The Company was founded in 1992 to exploit DNA technology generated at UMIST
(University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) and is listed on
the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: TED).


Takara Biomedical Co., Ltd is engaged in development, manufacturing, and sales
of biomedical reagents and instruments for research and clinical use. Takara has
conducted extensive research on DNA amplification methods, including PCR
(Polymerase Chain Reaction) technologies. This has resulted in the development
of LA (Long and Accurate) PCRTM products and ICANTM technologies.



Under worldwide competition in genome analysis, Takara has established a
world-class centre for high-throughput genome analysis, Dragon Genomics Co.,
Ltd. Dragon Genomics meets worldwide demand as the only centre for high
throughput genome analysis in Asia, and will provide major research projects on
a worldwide basis. Takara Biomedical Group also aims to discover genes with
novel, useful functions by using such innovative technologies as DNA microbead
array technology and DNA chip technology.



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