DFB Pharmaceuticals Acquires Phyton Inc.,
World's Largest Plant Cell Fermentation Facility

      (Fort Worth, TX) --- H. Paul Dorman, Chairman and CEO of DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc., announced today that DFB has completed the acquisition of Phyton Inc., a privately held specialized pharmaceutical company and world leader in the use of proprietary plant cell fermentation technology to produce high value medicines without the need for plant harvesting, elaborate chemical synthesis, or utilization of mammalian, yeast, or microbial cell organisms. Phyton currently generates revenue by efficiently producing a commercial source of paclitaxel, the active ingredient in one of the leading drugs for ovarian and breast cancer.

        Phyton has research and development headquarters in Ithaca, New York, and operates the world’s largest plant cell manufacturing facility in Ahrensburg, Germany.

        DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately held Texas corporation that provides technology-driven pharmaceutical products, outsourcing services, and licensing opportunities to the healthcare industry worldwide through its affiliates, HEALTHPOINT, Ltd., a branded marketing organization and DPT Laboratories, Ltd., an outsourcing service organization to the pharmaceutical industry.

        Terms of the transaction that closed on November 26, 2003, were not disclosed.

        “The acquisition of this technology allows DFB and its affiliates to meet increasing worldwide demand for unique, effective treatments for patients,” said Mr. Dorman. “Phyton will operate as a DFB subsidiary, expanding our manufacturing service offerings, broadening our drug development capability, and bolstering our market strength.”

        Phyton, founded in 1990, pioneered the development of a proprietary plant cell fermentation process that produces complex plant-based molecules as a basis for highly specialized drugs. In 2002 Phyton signed a long-term agreement with a major pharmaceutical company, under which Phyton provides a commercial source for the plant-derived taxane drug paclitaxel, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in one of the leading drugs for ovarian and breast cancer. Paclitaxel was originally isolated only from the bark of yew trees, an increasingly limited resource often located in protected forests.

        “There are multiple advantages to producing pharmaceuticals via plant cell fermentation,” said Magnus Precht, who has joined Phyton as General Manager. “Phyton’s plant cell fermentation technology enables the production of known and novel plant-derived complex small molecules as well as biopharmaceuticals from transgenic plant cells. The plant cell fermentation approach is environmentally beneficial, secure, rapidly scalable, and cost effective.”

        In a plant cell fermentation process, plant cells are grown in controlled, specialized fermenter tanks and induced to produce the desired compound at high rates, with high purity. By leveraging this fermentation technology to unlock the plant cell’s intrinsic ability to grow and synthesize compounds, Phyton’s approach enables the sustainable and efficient production of both known and novel compounds.

        DFB foresees growing Phyton into a fully-integrated biotechnology concern that will continue to develop and sell proprietary development services as well as manufacturing services to pharmaceutical companies worldwide, in addition to being an internal source for new drug technology for HEALTHPOINT, according to Mr. Dorman.

        DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately held corporation that provides technology-driven pharmaceutical products, outsourcing services, and licensing opportunities to the healthcare industry worldwide through its branded marketing affiliate organizations and contract partners. Headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas. Affiliates include DPT Laboratories Ltd., and HEALTHPOINT Ltd. Visit www.dfb.com for additional information.

        DPT Laboratories, Ltd. with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, leads the industry in the development and manufacture of creams, lotions, ointments, gels, oral and topical solutions, and suspensions. The company provides full-service outsourcing capabilities from formulation prototype development to worldwide distribution, with manufacturing locations in San Antonio, Texas, and Lakewood, New Jersey. As a result of this acquisition, DPT can now provide its customers with development and manufacturing capabilities based on plant cell fermentation technology. DPT’s customers include most of the top Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and consumer products companies, as well as biotechnology and start-up companies. DPT is on the web at www.dptlabs.com.

        HEALTHPOINT Ltd., located in Fort Worth, Texas, has established a U.S. presence in the research, development, and marketing of branded pharmaceuticals, over the counter drugs, and medical devices for tissue management, dermatology, and surgical indications. An aggressive research, development, and marketing effort has brought HEALTHPOINT’s unique technologies to the forefront, setting the pace for its highly trained field sales organization of direct sales representatives. Visit HEALTHPOINT’s web site at www.HEALTHPOINT.com.

        Phyton, Inc. is a subsidiary of DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc. and has facilities in Ithaca, New York, and Ahrensburg, Germany. Phyton’s proprietary plant cell fermentation technology platform is used to develop and manufacture products with applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, or specialty chemical industries. Its German subsidiary, Phyton GmbH, operates the world's largest commercial cGMP manufacturing facility for plant cell fermentation.