Meditech Announcement

Bit more good news for the long the suffering MTR believers. I live in hope.

LONDON, UK & MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, September 9, 2002 -- SkyePharma PLC (LSE: SKP; Nasdaq: SKYE) and Meditech Research Limited (ASX: MTR) today announced a reciprocal licensing agreement concerning Solarase™, a topical therapy for the pre-cancerous skin condition, actinic or solar keratosis, in certain Pacific Rim territories. Solarase™ is approved by regulatory authorities in North America and Europe. It is already marketed under licenses from SkyePharma by Shire Pharmaceuticals in five European countries, including the UK, Germany and Sweden, and in the US by Quintiles Transnational Inc.

SkyePharma acquired rights to Solarase™ in 1999 from the administrators of Hyal Pharmaceuticals (Hyal), excluding those relating to certain Pacific Rim territories owned by Meditech under a pre-existing agreement with Hyal. Under the new agreement announced today, SkyePharma re-acquires these territorial rights to the product Solarase™ from Meditech in return for an upfront payment, a milestone on eventual product registration in Australia or New Zealand, and a royalty on sales.

SkyePharma gains the exclusive right to manufacture and market or sublicense Solarase™ in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia whilst Meditech obtains equivalent rights in new territories; China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines, countries which were not included under the previous agreement. Each company will receive an identical royalty on sales made by the other company in their allocated territory.

Michael Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of SkyePharma, commented, "Australia is the world's second largest skin cancer market after the US. We estimate that the incidence of actinic keratosis, a pre-cancerous condition associated with over exposure to the sun, is in the region of 20% of the population so this is an important market for us. Solarase treatment has demonstrated complete or significant global improvement in nearly 80% of patients. We will conduct an additional clinical study in Australia before pursuing rapid product registration using our clinical and regulatory expertise whilst seeking a commercialisation partner to maximise market penetration."

Meditech's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chris Carter, noted; "These arrangements provide Meditech with much greater prospects for early realisation of significant royalties on SkyePharma's sales of Solarase™. By acquiring rights to secure commercial agreements in China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines, Meditech can take advantage of its working relationships with Asian companies to access the market potential of these enormous populations."

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For further information please contact:

SkyePharma PLC

Michael Ashton, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 207 491 1777
Valerie Tate, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0) 207 491 1777
Sandra Haughton, US Investor Relations +1 (212) 753 5780