DATA Globaldata Plc

RNS Number:9325U
Provalis PLC
29 November 2000


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      29TH NOVEMBER 2000


                    ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF PROVALIS PLC


At the Annual General Meeting of Provalis plc which was held today, Frank
Harding, Chairman, made the following statement:

"Since the previous AGM of Provalis, the Company has made significant progress
across all three of its divisions. I believe this progress was reflected in
the successful fund raising announced in September which, in particularly
difficult market conditions, raised #10.8M.

We have strengthened the Board of Directors with the appointments of Neil
Kirkby as Finance Director, and of Christine Soden and David Bloxham as
Non-Executive Directors.  Their collective experience in corporate finance,
strategic business development, commercial negotiation and pharmaceutical
development, gained with public companies in the pharmaceutical and other
sectors, has been, and will continue to be, of great benefit to Provalis.

Our Healthcare division, which is focused on the sale of prescription
medicines in the UK, achieved record sales in the last financial year, and
recorded its first ever operating profit.  In the first part of the current
financial year, the sales growth in this division has been maintained at above
the industry average.  We are continuing with the expansion of the sales force
in the UK, and are also looking to expand the distribution network into
Europe, initially in the Republic of Ireland.  We anticipate launching line
extensions to our existing product portfolio, and are also actively in pursuit
of new products for this division to sell, with discussions underway for the
acquisition of several new products.

Our Medical Diagnostic division achieved a significant milestone with the
launch of GlycosalO, our point of care diagnostic product for measuring the
long term level of glucose in the blood of diabetics, which is now distributed
world-wide by our three distributors.  GlycosalO has already received
regulatory approval for the United States, and marketing approval for Japan,
two of the key markets for diabetes testing.  In addition, we recently
announced that GlycosalO is to be used by the US Government Health Agency in
one of the most extensive, long term, diabetes care trials ever to be
undertaken, and this is a great expression of confidence in both the product
itself, and our ability to supply their needs over the eight years that the
trial will last.  We now have to expand our manufacturing and supply
capability in order to meet the increasing demand for this product, and will
use some of the proceeds of the fund raising for this purpose.

The Medical Diagnostic division also launched OsteosalO, our test for
osteoporosis, during the year.  This is now on the market in the UK, Europe
and the Far East.

The Therapeutic R&D division has continued to make steady progress.  The
division is focused on developing a range of vaccine candidates for infectious
diseases, and has a number of commercial collaborations.  This focus on
vaccine candidates has identified a number of non-core technologies and
projects, several of which have been disposed of during the year, and these
disposals will continue.  Earlier in the year, we entered into a licence
agreement with SmithKline Beecham for two of our vaccine candidates, and we
continue to seek commercial partners for a number of our other products or
technologies.  During the year we established a Scientific Advisory Board,
chaired by Dr Dudley Earl our senior non-executive director.  This Board will
help guide the strategy and direction of our therapeutic R&D, will
independently review the progress of our therapeutic R&D programmes and has
already proved how useful it will be for the Company.


We intend to continue our strategy of using the more certain revenues from our
two operating divisions to support the R&D activities in both the Medical
Diagnostic and Therapeutic R&D divisions.  We will be able to accelerate the
pursuit of these R&D activities using the monies received from the fund
raising.  The Medical Diagnostics division will be concentrating on developing
new diagnostic tests using the technology platform applied in GlycosalO and
also on developing a new diagnostic product for home use by diabetics, which
is potentially a very large market.  The Therapeutic R&D division will seek to
complete the pre-clinical development of at least one of its vaccine
candidates.

The next year promises to be an even more exciting and productive year for all
three divisions of Provalis."

All resolutions proposed at the AGM were duly passed.

                                     END


Provalis' Internet Website ; http://www.provalis.com

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995:  Some or all of the statements in this document that relate to future
plans, expectations, events, performances and the like are forward looking
statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  Actual results of events could differ materially from those described
in the forward looking statements due to a variety of factors, including those
set forth in Provalis plc's filings with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission.

For further information:-

Dr Phil Gould, Provalis plc,                         Tel:  01244 833463
Mr Lee Greenbury, Provalis plc,                      Tel:  01244 833402
Lisa Baderoon, Buchanan Communications,              Tel:  020 7466 5000


Notes to Editors

Provalis plc (LSE.PRO and NASDAQ.PVLS) is an integrated healthcare business
with three separate divisions focused on the supply and sale of prescription
medicines, the development, manufacture and sale of medical diagnostics
worldwide, and the development of new therapeutic products, such as vaccines
to combat infectious diseases.


The three divisions are:-


Healthcare - This division sells and markets branded, third party,
prescription medicines in the UK to GPs and hospitals through its own
regionally managed sales force.  This division sells products in the areas of
gastroenterology, osteoporosis, migraine and dermatology.


Medical Diagnostics - This division develops and sells medical diagnostic
products to world markets through distributors.  The division has an
established business in diagnostic products for infectious diseases and has
recently launched the innovative products GlycosalTM and OsteosalTM in the
areas of diabetes and osteoporosis respectively.


Therapeutic Research & Development - This division develops a range of vaccine
candidates for infectious diseases through a network of research
collaborators.

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