PROMETIC LIFE SCIENCES AND AMERICAN RED CROSS FORM STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO DEVELOP AN IMPROVED PLASMA PROTEIN PURIFICATION PROCESS

Montreal, QC (Canada) – Washington, DC (USA), February 5, 2003 – American Red Cross Plasma Services (Red Cross) and ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: PLI) (ProMetic) announced today the establishment of a strategic alliance agreement to co-develop an improved protein purification process utilizing proprietary technologies from both companies to recover the most valuable therapeutic proteins from plasma in yields exceeding those currently obtained by standard manufacturing processes.

Therapeutic products derived from plasma are used to treat more than one million patients each year and amount to $7 billion US in annual sales.

The purpose of this strategic alliance agreement is to provide this novel process to the Red Cross and, under license, to other third parties. ProMetic and the Red Cross Plasma Services will generate royalties on the sales of the therapeutics produced from this new process. In addition, ProMetic will supply the separation media requirements to the manufacturing facilities using the process. Other financial terms and conditions in relation to this strategic agreement were not disclosed.

This novel process is designed to be adaptable to existing facilities or to form the basis of completely new manufacturing facilities. ProMetic CEO Pierre Laurin states, “The complementarities between ProMetic’s and the Red Cross’ respective technologies and competencies provide for the synergy required to achieve such a project. In addition to providing safe, reliable and cost-effective plasma protein therapies to the US market, our objectives also include contributing to global patient care in highly populated and less developed parts of the world.”

Human plasma is the remaining liquid after red blood cells and platelets are removed from each unit of blood collected. Plasma fractionating facilities then extract valuable therapeutic proteins such as Immunoglobulins (IVIG) to treat immune deficiency conditions, coagulating factors to treat hemophilia and albumin to treat hypovolumic shock, burns and other indications.

The worldwide demand for plasma proteins places immense pressure on manufacturers to increase output. It is estimated that global demand is significantly greater than the current level of supply. “The only way it is conceivable to improve product availability globally is by changing the manufacturing process and implementing high yielding operating units,” added Chris Lamb, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Red Cross, Plasma Services.

“Despite consumer needs, the complexities involved in creating new manufacturing processes have typically discouraged changes,” stated John Curling, Senior Scientist at ProMetic. “Clearly, the benefits of increased yield and reduced costs enabled by ProMetic’s technology is providing the incentives to make the required changes to current manufacturing facilities and to design new ones.”

About Plasma Protein
Plasma protein fractionation is by far the largest industry segment in global therapeutic protein manufacture. More than 500 metric tons of human serum albumin (HSA) and more than 40 tons of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) are produced annually from 22 million litres of source and recovered plasma. Between November 2000 and October 2001, 80 times more IVIG were produced than the largest monoclonal antibody production in the same year (about 225 kg) in the US alone.

Plasma contains about 60g of proteins per litre, which are used for many therapeutic products. That makes this human material unique as a source of multiple products. It is also this feature that differentiates the design of fractionation processes from other processes that recover single therapeutic entities from a microbial or transgenic source material, mainly because any change in the unit operation sequence affects all products downstream. Therefore, it is not surprising that large-scale fractionators that process several million litres of plasma annually have left the backbone of their process unchanged.

About American Red Cross
The American Red Cross is dedicated to saving lives, easing suffering and restoring hope at home and around the world. Currently operating on a budget of $2.7 billion, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to the victims of more than 67,000 disasters nationwide. The American Red Cross provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply to patients in 3,000 hospitals nationwide. Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE today to schedule your lifesaving donation or to sponsor a blood drive.

About ProMetic Life Sciences
ProMetic Life Sciences Inc., is an international bio-pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec and additional facilities in the UK. ProMetic is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of a variety of commercial applications from its proprietary platform technologies, which are used in therapeutic development, pathogen removal, proteomics, and large-scale drug purification. Additional information is available on the company’s website: www.prometic.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to the Company’s ability to develop, manufacture, and successfully commercialize value-added pharmaceutical products and to obtain contracts for its products and services and commercial acceptance of advanced affinity separation technology. Shareholders are cautioned that these statements are predictions and these actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

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Information:

Noonan Russo Presence Euro RSCG Medias: Lynn Blenkhorn: (212) 845-4276 Investors: Sharon Weinstein: (212) 845-4271 www.nrp-euro.com

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. Pierre Laurin, President and CEO (514) 341-2115 Patrick Hofman (514) 673-1116 Sofie St. Laurent (514) 673-1116 www.prometic.com