RNS Number:9497S
Medical Solutions PLC
08 December 2003


December 8, 2003


NEW MEDICAL SOLUTIONS SERVICE LAUNCHED WITH INITIAL CONTRACT FOR ASTRAZENECA


Medical Solutions (LSE: MLS), the cancer diagnostics company, announced today a
major contract with AstraZeneca to provide specialist biomarker assessment
services for the development of new cancer drugs.

It is the first major contract the Company has signed for this important new
service to both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. By the end of
this year there will be over 600 compounds in early phase development for
cancer, the majority of which target specific molecules and so can be assessed
using biomarker technology.

Twelve months ago, Medical Solutions introduced tissue supply services for
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies using its first fully ethically
consented tissue bank at Peterborough. It now has upward of 80 agreements in
place for supplying normal and diseased tissue samples for drug discovery.  The
Company is the largest private provider of histopathology services to the NHS in
Britain and its network of 72 specialist pathologists is able to provide expert
opinions on this type of tissue.

Subsequently, Medical Solutions has introduced a quantitative immunohistology
service to assess the dose response of human tissue biomarkers to escalating
amounts of a new drug.  By developing assays for a series of such markers the
Company has created a novel toolkit for the global cancer pipeline. This service
produces vital early performance data on new compounds when first given to
patients allowing better decision making on whether to take them forward to
expensive pivotal studies for registration. The discovery of tightly linked
biomarkers of molecular effect also provides response surrogates for patient
selection so effectively personalising cancer medicine. Such molecular
signatures will eventually be incorporated into diagnostics to select drugs for
routine cancer care.

Charles Green, CEO of Medical Solutions said today "We are delighted to be
working in this exciting area with one of the world's leading cancer companies.
These new services are extremely helpful tools to industry. Our unique
technologies and skilled staff will provide vital information to enable future
cancer patients to receive the correct treatments as rapidly as possible."

The provision of services to support the pharmaceutical and biotechnology
industry represents a significant move up the value chain for Medical Solutions.
The Company is currently negotiating further similar agreements.


Contact:

Medical Solutions
Charles Green, Chief Executive Officer                 Tel: +44 (0) 115 973 9010
Karol Sikora, Chief Scientific Director

Beattie Financial
Mike Wort/ Ann-marie Wilkinson                         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 3300


Notes to Editors:

Medical Solutions plc provides world leading services and technology for cancer
diagnosis and pathology, supporting the Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and
Biotechnology sectors.

The company is one of two in the UK who can provide Liquid Based Cytology (LBC)
services to the NHS. LBC was recently the subject of a recommendation by the
National Institute for Clinical Excellence and agreement by the NHS that it
should move all cervical cancer smear tests over to using LBC technique because
of the significant increase in accuracy that can be achieved by using this new
technique.

The group has two major divisions. The Services Division has a range of services
including Specialist Pathology, Biomaterials Resources and Expertise, and 5
Laboratories. These services are provided to the Pharma/Biotech Industry
worldwide and to Healthcare providers, both public and private. The Technology
Divisions' range includes specialist-imaging software for telemedicine, image
analysis and quantitation, and the SurePath liquid based cytology system
referred to above. This division is also key in supporting its' Service
divisions offerings to both the Drug Development market and the Healthcare
market.

The combination of world-renowned expertise, state of the art reference
laboratory facilities and innovative imaging technology puts Medical in a unique
position.


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