Press Releases

Dublin, Ireland, 15th May 2006 - AGI Therapeutics plc (AIM, IEX: AGI), a speciality pharmaceutical company focused on gastrointestinal (GI) drug products, today announces the appointment of David Young, Pharm.D. Ph.D., as President of US Operations and Executive Member of the Board of AGI. The appointment is effective from 5 June 2006.

David Young, 53, joins AGI from the GloboMax Division of ICON plc where he was Executive Vice President with responsibility for strategic drug development efforts in the US. Founded by Dr. Young in 1997, GloboMax was acquired in 2003 by ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.

Prior to forming GloboMax, Dr. Young had a distinguished career in academia. He was with the University of Maryland at Baltimore for 11 years where he was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Managing Director of the Clinical Research Unit. During this period the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed major research and education programmes with the University, providing Dr. Young with opportunities to work closely with and train FDA staff on various regulatory science topics, including collaborating with FDA on establishing various FDA Guidances.

During his career, Dr. Young has worked on over 50 New Drug Applications (NDAs) to the FDA, many based on the 505(b)2 NDA process, including therapeutic indication switches and drug delivery reformulations of known molecular entities (KMEs), five of which were specifically for products in the GI field.

Commenting on the appointment, John Devane, Chief Executive Officer of AGI, said:

"David offers AGI substantial scientific, drug development and regulatory knowledge and expertise. As we advance our clinical development programmes through Phase II proof-of-concept to late stage development, the creation of a direct US based presence led by David, with his significant experience in FDA-related clinical and regulatory development, is a key component of the Company's strategy. On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome David to AGI."

David Young added:

"Since its inception less than three years ago, AGI has made rapid progress with its product portfolio. The Company is now at an inflection point as it prepares to roll out results of several Phase II studies during the rest of this year. I look forward to working with the executive team to take AGI's R&D strategy to the next level."

For further information please see www.agitherapeutics.com

About AGI Therapeutics

AGI is a speciality pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of differentiated drug products for gastrointestinal (''GI'') diseases and disorders.

The Company has a portfolio of product candidates derived from the Known Molecular Entity (''KME'') approach to drug re-profiling and development. KME is a re-profiling methodology used by the Company to identify existing therapeutic drugs which, typically, have been marketed for a number of years, have established safety profiles and can be developed for new clinical indications or with improved profiles in their existing clinical indications. In this way, the Company seeks to reduce the risk, time and cost of new product development as compared to the development of new chemical entities.

AGI is developing a range of product candidates to treat a variety of prevalent GI diseases and disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, ulcerative colitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. The Company is targeting areas of the GI therapeutic drug products market for its product candidates where there are currently unmet medical needs or where the effectiveness of existing drug therapies can be further improved.

The Company has six product candidates in clinical development, including five in Phase II trials. These are either isomers or new drug delivery formulations of existing approved drugs, and have established safety and tolerability profiles in their currently approved clinical indications.

Statements contained within this press release may contain forward-looking comments that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as 'may', 'will', 'could', 'forecasts', 'expects', 'plans', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'estimates', 'predicts', 'potential', or 'continue'. Predictions and forward-looking references in this press release are subject to the satisfactory progress of research, which is, by nature, unpredictable. Forward projections reflect management's best estimates based on information available at the time of issue.

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