March 11, 2002

MPB Cologne extends its technology portfolio by exclusive access to a high-tech containment production technology.

MPB Cologne GmbH (Cologne, Germany) announced today that it has contracted BioSecure Crops Inc. (Toronto, Canada) to enter into a feasibility study on growing potato mini-tubers containing pharmaceutical proteins (Industrial Tubers™) in contained-environment grow chambers. A series of contained-environment grow chambers will be constructed by BioSecure Crops using their proprietary GroWmax™ technology to establish production of mini-tubers supplied by MPB Cologne.

BioSecure Crops will assist MPB Cologne to address the worldwide shortage of antibody manufacturing capacity created by the successful entry into the market of therapeutic antibodies. The worldwide therapeutic antibody market is expected to grow from US$ 3 billion in 2001 to US$ 24 billion by 2010.

BioSecure Crops utilizes proprietary technologies to create fully contained growing environments that maximize the output of plant biomass and allow for completely controlled plant production. Plant growing environments can be easily scaled from research to commercial-sized production and can be
operated anywhere regardless of location or season.

“I am very optimistic that the GroWmax™ technology will prove to be the best fit for MPB Cologne´s focus on biological safety in plant-made pharmaceuticals”, said Klaus Düring, President and CEO of MPB Cologne. "It allows for maximum flexibility and promises the highest efficiency in production of Industrial Tubers™. Exclusive access to the GroWmax™ technology for the growing of mini-tubers strengthens the competitive position of both companies.”

“We feel that MPB’s Industrial Tuber™ fits well with BioSecure’s technology and will prove to be an excellent platform for the commercial-scale production of a wide range of recombinant protein,” said Doug Coyle, President, BioSecure Crops Inc. “In our assessment, MPB Cologne´s work to date developing the Industrial Tuber™ places it in a leadership position in the industry.”

MPB Cologne manufactures novel proteins in Industrial Tubers™ by using the potato as a plant bioreactor for economical large-scale production. Customers from pharmaceutical, biotechnological and chemical industries will benefit from the comprehensive gene to protein approach of MPB Cologne. MPB has successfully proved the functional equivalence of a scFv antibody produced in Industrial Tubers™ in neurite outgrowth from cultured neurons. Upon completion of its first pilot scale productions by mid 2002, purified scFv antibodies will be available in quantities of several tens of grams. More information about MPB Cologne is available at the company website www.mpb-cologne.com.

BioSecure Crops is a biotechnology infrastructure company serving the rapidly growing plant-based recombinant protein manufacturing sector. BioSecure uses the proprietary GroWmax™ plant growing technology to economically maximize biomass production in fully contained environments. Plants can produce a wide range of high value proteins such as antibodies or enzymes which can be used as vaccines or for a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. For more information about BioSecure Crops Inc. visit the company web site at www.growbiz.biz