Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (Paradigm) and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (Alexandria) will break ground on November 10, 1999 on 54,000 square feet of laboratory and office facilities on 6.08 acres of land adjacent to its current facilities in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The new center, which will be called the Center for Functional Genomics Research, is the first phase in Paradigm's plan to develop as much as 284,000 square feet of space on a contiguous 22-acre campus within Research Triangle Park.

"As the demand for functional genomic information in agriculture continues to expand, we continue to outgrow our facilities,'' said John Ryals, CEO and president of Paradigm. ``The new facilities will enable us to double our current gene function analysis capacity. We'll also be able to house all employees in one location-not a trivial issue, since we've grown from 25 employees to 80 employees over the past year, and expect to grow to over 200 employees by 2001.''

Expansion of existing facilities is already underway. By the end of 1999, work will be finished on a
20,000 square foot expansion that will house plant growth rooms and phenotype analysis
laboratories. Under terms of an agreement entered into by Paradigm and Alexandria in July 1999,
work will begin immediately on the 54,000 square foot office and laboratory facility. Pending
approvals, Alexandria also intends to develop an additional 30,000 square foot growth room and
greenhouse complex for Paradigm. Both facilities are scheduled for completion in third quarter 2000. The total project will cost approximately $12,800,000.

O'BrienAtkins of Research Triangle Park are project architects for the new facilities. Miller
Construction is the general contractor.

Paradigm now occupies approximately 28,000 square feet of single-story laboratory and office space in Research Triangle Park and has access to greenhouse facilities at North Carolina State University. In phase II of development plans, the Company has an option with Alexandria to develop an additional 50,000 square foot laboratory and office facility on the same site. Paradigm also has an option to lease an additional 11 acres of land adjacent to the current site, on which it will be able to develop an additional 150,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. If all options are exercised, Paradigm's facilities will cover 284,000 square feet over a 22-acre campus.

Paradigm Genetics, Inc. is harnessing the power of biology for global crop production, nutrition, and human health. As well as using functional genomics and bioinformatics to determine gene function, the Company has established a proprietary plant functional genomics system (AgDB)(TM) that integrates gene discovery, gene function determination, and gene use identification. Paradigm will be the world leader in functional genomics for agriculture by developing products independently and by joining in alliances with multiple development and commercialization partners.

Paradigm has attracted the majority of the world's largest life sciences companies as partners and potential partners. These partners are working with the Company in such areas as: discovering better and safer compounds to protect crops against weeds, diseases, and insect pests; developing more efficacious and environmentally-friendly plant nutrition products; improving the quality of seed germplasm through the development of more efficient breeding tools and the discovery of new and valuable genes; and discovering novel antimicrobial compounds for human use.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self- managed  real estate operating company focused principally on the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, conversion, retrofit, expansion and selective development and redevelopment of properties containing office and laboratory space. Such properties are designed and improved for lease primarily to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic, device, contract research and personal care products companies, major scientific research institutions, related government agencies and technology enterprises. Alexandria's portfolio currently consists of 58 properties comprising approximately 4.0 million square feet of office and laboratory space.

Company news release
N2228