Friday 19 December 2003, London, UK & Copenhagen, Denmark -

NeuroSearch and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced a five-year research and development alliance. The alliance comprises a number of research programmes within ion channels and the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) including depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. The new alliance combines NeuroSearch's innovative research and development, and strong technology platform with GSK's research, development, and commercial strength.

The option agreement gives GSK access to new drug candidates from NeuroSearch's research and development within the defined area. This includes the Phase II triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor NS2359, the Endovion programme and several other research programmes. The existing collaboration with GSK in depression disorders is integrated in the new agreement.

Under the terms of the five-year agreement NeuroSearch will receive a total of EUR 82 million (DKK 610 million) in guaranteed payments. On signing the agreement, NeuroSearch will receive EUR 46.8 million (DKK 348 million), comprising EUR 29.1 million (DKK 217 million) of up-front and research payments, and EUR 17.7 million (DKK 132 million) for 616,000 new NeuroSearch shares to be issued to GSK. The shares correspond to an 8.7% increase of the share capital equal to GSK having a strategic equity interest in NeuroSearch of 8.0% after the capital increase. The purchase price of DKK 214 per share of DKK 20 represents a 30% premium to the average market price over thirty days before the agreement was signed.

When GSK exercises its option in respect of the individual programmes, GSK will also assume responsibility for funding the project costs involved. In addition to the guaranteed payments above, NeuroSearch may receive milestones based on the continued successful development of NS2359 and any other candidates accepted by GSK. For NS2359 these payments may total EUR 98.5 million (DKK 733 million). The milestones payable by GSK for other candidates will depend upon the stage of development at which GSK accepts the compound and may range from EUR 32.7 million (DKK 243 million) to EUR 90 million (DKK 670 million) per candidate. NeuroSearch will also receive royalties on sales of successfully launched compounds. Further financial details were not disclosed.

If GSK does not wish to exercise its options, NeuroSearch is free to develop the product itself or with another partner.

Tadataka Yamada, Chairman, Research and Development at GSK, commented: "Diseases of the central nervous system are particularly debilitating and represent a massive unmet medical need. Combining the skills and resources of GSK and NeuroSearch will accelerate and augment our current efforts to make effective new treatments available to patients as quickly as possible. GSK particularly values the collaborative culture at NeuroSearch, which bodes well for the success of our alliance"

President & CEO Jørgen Buus Lassen of NeuroSearch says, "I am pleased that we were able to conclude this important strategic alliance with GSK as our two companies have had a well-functioning and trustful partnership within depression research for three years. I have a strong expectation that this extended partnership will be a major success for both companies."

Dr. Buus Lassen continues: "This agreement is one of the most important milestones in our history and is a major recognition of NeuroSearch's competencies within research and development. The agreement significantly increases the generation of value in NeuroSearch and strengthens our financial resources considerably."

As NeuroSearch will not prepare a prospectus in connection with the issue of shares, the following details must be disclosed:

The agreement is the largest in NeuroSearch's history, and the term of the agreement is five years. For new development candidates selected by GSK, the term of the agreement continue until the patents regarding the selected candidates expires. The agreement may only be terminated by GSK in case of NeuroSearch's insolvency, material breach or in case the controlling interest in NeuroSearch is transferred to a new owner.

The payments including net proceeds from the share capital increase and NeuroSearch's existing resources will significantly secure NeuroSearch's operations during the period until launch of the first product.

The agreement with GSK will have no impact on agreements with other partners, which will continue as planned.

NeuroSearch reiterates its financial forecast for the year 2003 as announced on 19 November 2003 - a net result about break-even and raises its expectations to the capital resources to DKK 500 million by the end of 2003, which is approximately DKK 270 million above the forecast made in the H1 report in August 2003.

About GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical companies. The company's mission is to help people live longer and feel better. For additional information, please visit www.gsk.com.

About NeuroSearch

NeuroSearch is a Danish biopharmaceutical company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (NEUS:CO). Five NeuroSearch compounds are in clinical development: NS2330 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease (Phase II) in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, NS2359 for the treatment of ADHD (Phase II) and Endovion for the treatment of cancer (Phase I) in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in-house development of NS1209 for the treatment of epilepsy and brain damage following stroke (Phase II) and ABT-202 for the treatment of pain (Phase I) in partnership with Abbott Laboratories. In addition, NeuroSearch has a portfolio of drug discovery programmes primarily focused on ion channel modulators with commercial potential within CNS and other diseases. In addition to the agreements with Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim and GSK, NeuroSearch has partnerships with Pharmexa and Pierre Fabre. Furthermore, NeuroSearch has equity interests in eight biotech companies, including Bavarian Nordic A/S, NsGene A/S and Sophion Bioscience A/S.

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