College Station, Texas
February 13, 2002

ProdiGene, Inc., a leader in recombinant protein development and manufacturing from transgenic plant systems, announced today that it has begun a commercial scale-up of trypsin. This marks the first time that kilogram quantities of a recombinant protein will be produced and marketed from transgenic plants.

Trypsin, a protein used in cell culture and as an intermediary in the production of pharmaceuticals, is traditionally harvested from bovine sources. The use of animal sourced proteins may raise concerns about animal pathogens that can be passed to humans. ProdiGene's trypsin is an alternative for those who may have this concern. ProdiGene plans to market tens of kilograms of non-animal derived trypsin by the end of 2002 and scale-up production to meet full market demand by 2003.

"As the market for proteins continues to expand, alternative production systems are increasingly being looked at to meet the demand," said Anthony Laos, President and CEO of ProdiGene. "Not only does our trypsin program provide an alternate source for those concerned about animal pathogens, it also provides an example of the potential of our technology, such as the ability to rapidly and efficiently scale-up or scale-down production. Trypsin is the third product of ProdiGene's pipeline of solution-based protein manufacturing programs in plants, and the first large-scale product to be launched."

ProdiGene currently has protein product programs in a range of development stages. In addition to trypsin, ProdiGene is developing other high value/high volume pharmaceutical recombinant proteins from transgenic plants, such as therapeutic proteins and vaccines. The Company is also pioneering the development and production of recombinant proteins derived from transgenic plants for the animal health and industrial bioproducts markets. Current protein production systems include animal sources and bacterial and yeast cultures. ProdiGene's transgenic plant system has significant advantages in time and capital over these alternatives. As the market for proteins continues to grow, transgenic plants will play a vital role in easing the shortfall, reducing costs and providing an alternative source of proteins. ProdiGene conducts all research, development and production of its products under conditions that meet or exceed U.S. regulatory requirements to ensure health and environmental safety.

About Trypsin

Trypsin is a naturally occurring protein that is produced in the pancreas of all animals and breaks down protein chains as part of the digestion process. It is a critical intermediary in the manufacturing of insulin, where it is used to help cleave the protein into its active form. The market for trypsin is rapidly growing as a result of the worldwide increase in diabetes as well as the progress of alternative delivery systems for insulin, which, due to low bioavailability, require higher quantities to reach a therapeutic effect. Trypsin is widely used in cell culture applications for research and production of recombinant proteins for clinical uses. Another application is its use in the wound care markets as an oral treatment for inflammatory edema, hematoma and pain associated with a wide variety of internal and external wounds. The protein also has uses in the industrial enzyme market. It is estimated that the worldwide demand for trypsin will increase five fold in the next five years.

ProdiGene, headquartered in College Station, Texas is a private biotechnology company that is developing and manufacturing industrial and pharmaceutical proteins from a transgenic plant system. ProdiGene, as the first and only company to produce and market a recombinant protein from a transgenic plant system, is well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities in the large and expanding recombinant protein markets. The Company has collaborations with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including such companies as Eli Lilly and Avant Immunotherapeutics. To learn more, visit our web site at http://www.prodigene.com.