Ellipsis Biotherapeutics Corp. will present at the BioContact Conference on Wednesday October 1, 2003 at the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City, QC, Canada. Laurence Rubin, Ellipsis' Chief Executive Officer, will provide an overview of Ellipsis and discuss the company's lead drug development project in Alzheimer's Disease.

Ellipsis Biotherapeutics Corporation announced today that the company has restructured its research programs in order to focus on the clinical development of its lead compounds in Alzheimer's Disease. Personnel and resources have been realigned to expand the company's drug development capabilities and accelerate the development of this new program.

"Ellipsis is very excited about our new Neurologic Disease program. Based on our early discovery studies, the company's lead compounds may have potential use as therapeutic and preventative treatments for Alzheimer's Disease, as well as for several other neurological disorders," said Peter St George Hyslop, MD, Ellipsis' Chief Scientific Officer.

"In addition, because the compounds physically bind to the protein plaques that are the hallmark indicators of Alzheimer's Disease, Ellipsis is also pursuing their use as diagnostics for early disease detection and progression tracking."

Ellipsis' existing Inflammatory Bowel Disease program has reached a mature stage with validated therapeutic targets and diagnostic products available for partnering. The company is seeking additional funding for the new Neurological Disease Program.

"The increased focus and resources will place Ellipsis in a strong position to bring forward our most promising clinical candidates," said Laurence Rubin, MD, Ellipsis' Chief Executive Officer. "Our priority for the near term is to advance our lead compounds into clinical trials and to aggressively pursue their development in Alzheimer's Disease."

About Ellipsis: Ellipsis is a privately held drug discovery company with lead candidates in the diagnosis and treatment of Degenerative Neurologic Disorders, specifically Alzheimer's Disease. In addition, the company has discovery programs in Inflammatory Diseases, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ellipsis' central business strategy is to develop therapeutics and diagnostics through early clinical proof (Phase I/II of clinical trials) and partner downstream commercialization and marketing. With future projects, Ellipsis intends to retain the rights to identified compounds through later stages of the discovery and clinical trials process before seeking commercialization partners. Non-core discoveries as well as diagnostic applications in its core programs will be out-licensed.

Ellipsis Biotherapeutics Corporation announced it has identified two therapeutic targets implicated in Crohn's Disease (CD). These targets contain disease-associated DNA sequence variations that have diagnostic and pharmacogenetic utility and reveal a disease-related molecular pathway that can be targeted for therapeutic intervention. Further functional analysis of the genes, their protein products and interacting proteins is underway.

Ellipsis employs advanced genetic and therapeutic discovery technologies for informed drug development and diagnostic discovery. Current research programs focus on Alzheimer's Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Further information can be obtained on the company's web site at www.ellipsisbio.com.

Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC) today announced Ashbury Biologicals Inc. and Ellipsis Biotherapeutics Corporation as two of Canada's Top 10 Life Sciences Corporate Investment and/or Partnering Prospects in conjunction with BioNorth 2001. BioNorth 2001 is Canada's premier international biotechnology and life sciences conference organized by the OLSC. Ashbury and Ellipsis both won in the early stage companies' category.

"Our Canada's Top 10 highlights the country's most promising biotechnology companies," said Ken Lawless, executive director, Ottawa Life Sciences Council. "Both companies are taking advantage of the exciting discoveries in their field. This award will further enhance their programs, and raise awareness."

The awards will be presented at the BioNorth 2001 International Conference on Monday November 5, 2001 in Ottawa. The national competition is designed to highlight the best business prospects in Canada's life sciences sector. Winners, selected by a jury of experts, make presentations at the forum, which is focused on growth-oriented biotechnology, biomedical, health and advanced agricultural technology companies.

Founded in 1992, Ashbury researches and develops natural-based drugs to treat headaches, liver disease, cancer, and other diseases.

Ellipsis' integrated technology platform is based on genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics, and target validation for drug discovery. It intends to license its discoveries to pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies for drug discovery, diagnostic and pharmacogenomic applications. Ellipsis has a strong team of distinguished founding genetic scientists and a global network of clinical collaborators. It has initiated programs in inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, migrane and prostate cancer.

Other winners in the early stage companies' category are Diabetogen Biosciences Inc. (London), NeuroMed Technologies Inc. (Vancouver), and Zinc Therapeutics Canada Inc. (Ottawa and Toronto).

Companies that won in the emerging and later stage companies' category are Aegera Therapeutics Inc. (Montreal), Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Montreal), Cytovax Biotechnologies Inc. (Edmonton), Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Vancouver), and Methylgene Inc. (Montreal).

For more information on Ashbury, visit the Web site at www.ashburybio.com. Ellipsis is on the Web at www.ellipsisbio.com. Information on the Ottawa Life Sciences Council and BioNorth 2001 can be found at www.bionorth.ca.