Nycomed Amersham Extends Human Antibody Agreement with Affitech

Nycomed Amersham Imaging (London), the leader in medical diagnostic imaging and a major provider of radiotherapy products, and AFFITECH (Oslo, Norway) have announced that they have entered into a research agreement for the discovery of fully human antibodies for imaging applications. By the new agreement Nycomed Amersham Imaging extends their previous collaboration with Affitech AS, which commenced in 1999.

Under the new agreement, Affitech will combine its proprietary antibody library technology and its automated affinity maturation process to generate human antibodies against targets provided by Nycomed Amersham Imaging. Nycomed Amersham Imaging will use these antibodies to develop and test the Company's novel concepts in molecular imaging. Although the detailed terms are not disclosed, Affitech will under the agreement retain rights to milestone and royalty payments from any products that incorporate Affitech's proprietary technology.

"We are very pleased that Nycomed Amersham Imaging has chosen us for the second time as a partner for the discovery of antibody-based agents" says Dr. Ole J. Marvik, CEO of Affitech."A particularly attractive aspect of this agreement is that it provides an entry for us to the in vivo imaging market, which we expect to develop significantly. We are confident that the power and flexibility of our recombinant antibody technology will be able to bring innovative and sophisticated medical tools to the market."

Dr. Arne Berg, Senior VP Research, Nycomed Amersham Imaging says: "Based upon the successful accomplishment by Affitech of previous milestones, we are delighted to expand our collaboration and initiate this new agreement. Nycomed Amersham Imaging is dedicated to be in the forefront of the in vivo imaging sector. Affitech has a broad technology base and well founded experience in the recombinant antibody field. We are convinced that this new phase of our relationship will yield real benefits in developing new reagents and products for biomolecular imaging."

About Affitech AS:
Affitech AS is a biotechnology company based in Oslo, Norway, which specialises in the development of high affinity human antibody fragments using combinatorial biology. The company was formed in 1997 as a joint initiative between Dr. Ole J. Marvik, based in Oslo, and Prof. Melvyn Little at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. With key proprietary rights, as well as extensive experience and know-how, Affitech is fast becoming a leader in its field

For additional information about Affitech AS, please visit www.affitech.com

About Nycomed Amersham Imaging:
Nycomed Amersham Imaging is committed to finding innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in cardiology, pulmonology, neurology and oncology. The Company is part of Amersham plc, (NYSE:NYE;LSE:NAM;OSE:NYA), the world leader in in-vivo diagnostic imaging and life sciences. Based in the United Kingdom, the company has annual sales of £1.4 billion (approximately U.S. $2.1 billion) and around 8,900 employees worldwide.

For additional information on Amersham plc, visit the corporate Web site at www.nycomed-amersham.com