Proximagen Neuroscience plc Strategic Update

London, UK – 1 February 2010; Proximagen Neuroscience plc, the biotechnology company focused on diseases of the central nervous system (“CNS”), today issues a strategic update.

Since the £50m fundraising in June 2009, the Company has seen a period of unprecedented corporate activity and undergone a notable transition. During this time, the Company has evolved from specialising mainly in Parkinson’s disease related programmes to the wider area of the CNS in general. The purpose of this announcement is to update shareholders on the progress made since June 2009.

Key points

• £50m raised in June 2009 to fund the acquisition of CNS companies and drug development programmes;

• As the Group continues to deliver on its acquisition and consolidation strategy, the Group’s portfolio has grown from five programmes at the beginning of 2009 and now consists of a broad portfolio of 14 programmes, from discovery, through pre-clinical and clinical stages;

• The recently announced offer for Minster Pharmaceuticals plc would bring an additional two clinical stage assets, tonabersat and sabcomeline, into the Group, which have the potential to treat epilepsy and schizophrenia respectively;

• Dr Jackie Hunter, currently the Senior Vice President and Head of Science Environment Development at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and formerly the Senior Vice President and Head of the Neurology & GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD) at GSK, has joined the Board of directors;

• Dr Tim Sparey, formerly in Business Development at Merck Serono and Merck & Co, Inc., has been appointed as Proximagen’s Head of Business Development;

• Consolidation and integration of acquisitions is expected to deliver cost savings of an estimated £1.7m in 2010; and

• Cash resources at 30 November 2009 of over £55.5m.

Commenting on the strategic update, Kenneth Mulvany, CEO, said: “Proximagen made significant strategic progress in the second half of last year and is well positioned to capitalise on that progress during 2010. With a strong Board, senior management team and balance sheet, as well as a greatly enhanced asset portfolio, we look forward to building on this platform to deliver further significant improvements in the Company's long term prospects this year.”