Burrill & Company announced today that they have closed, in association with other Kimeragen investors, a private placement worth up to $15 million to Kimeragen if business development milestones are met. Under the terms of the financing, Kimeragen received $7.5 million, including $3.5 million from The Burrill Agbio Capital Fund LP and the remainder from Kimeragen investors. Kimeragen could receive an additional $7.5 million upon the achievement of certain business development milestones. In addition, G. Steven Burrill has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kimeragen, effective May 14, 1999.

"We believe strongly in the potential of Kimeragen's chimeraplasty technology, which is designed
to enable the correction, alteration and repair of DNA,'' stated Mr. Burrill. ``Potential applications
affect almost every area of the life sciences industry, including agriculture, human therapeutics and transgenics. I look forward to working with Dr. Messerschmidt and the management team in
implementing strategic plans and optimizing the company's partnering opportunities.''

"We at Kimeragen would like to thank Steve Burrill and his associates for their dedication to the
completion of this financing, which will enable the company to aggressively move forward,''
commented Gerald L. Messerschmidt, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Kimeragen. "In addition,
we are extremely fortunate that Steve, a highly respected member of the life sciences investment
community has agreed to join the company as Chairman. His knowledge and experience in
working with healthcare merchant banking will be vital to Kimeragen as we provide products and
new opportunities for pharmaceutical and agricultural companies,'' added Dr. Messerschmidt.

Mr. Burrill founded Burrill & Company, a private merchant bank, in 1994 to provide investment
capital and strategic partnering and spinout assistance to life sciences companies. Mr. Burrill
currently serves on the Board of Directors for Axis Genetics, DepoMed, Genitope Corporation,
Cross Atlantic Partners, Paradigm Genetics, Promega Corporation, Third Wave Technologies,
Inc., Transgene, and UltraOrtho, Inc.

Mr. Burrill joins the newly elected Kimeragen Board of Directors consisting of Gerald L.
Messerschmidt, M.D., President & CEO; Arthur Altschul of Diaz & Altschul; Stephen Globus of
Globus Growth Group; Mark Fisher of MBF Capital; Jean Pierre Lehmann, formerly of Edmond
de Rothschild Bank Geneva; and Randolph C. Steer of Desert Health Enterprises. The board, led
by Mr. Burrill, will name two additional members, each of whom has significant senior management business experience in the pharmaceutical and/or agricultural sectors.

Kimeragen, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, engaged
in the discovery and development of unique products for human health, agriculture/industrial
products and animal/veterinary applications. The company is developing chimeraplasty as an
enabling technology for three distinct business areas: pharmaceuticals to repair genes implicated in a broad array of human diseases; plants to enhance genetic traits; and animal health to correct
abnormalities and enhance breed characteristics. The company intends to commercialize many of these applications through partnerships with global leaders in these fields.

Burrill & Company is the general partner of The Burrill Agbio Capital Fund LP (``the Fund''). The
Fund invests in companies having bio-based technologies broadly applicable to the agricultural,
food, and chemical industries, at two stages of development: in the early venture capital financing
stage, but generally not ``seed round'' investments, and at the mezzanine round, often in spin outs from established entities. The Burrill Agbio Capital Fund is currently capitalized at $85 million; its Limited Partners include: Hoechst Schering AgrEvo, Bayer Corporation, Royal Bank Capital Corporation, and Transamerica Corporation.

Burrill & Company is a private merchant bank, focused exclusively on life science companies
(biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, related medical technologies, agricultural
technologies, animal health, and nutraceuticals). Burrill & Company's business revolves around
three core activities: strategic partnering, spinouts, and venture capital investment. In each of these activities, Burrill & Company seeks to create value and to participate in this value creation through significant equity stakes in its portfolio companies.

Company news release
N1811