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2004
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news release

18 September, 2003

Benitec Limited (ASX:BLT), the leader in DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi), announced today that Dr. John Rossi, Professor and Chair of the Division of Molecular Biology at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope and Dean of the Institute's Graduate School of Biological Sciences, was selected to Chair its Scientific Advisory Board in the United States. City of Hope is a Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases.

"I'm delighted to be selected to chair Benitec's Scientific Advisory Board and look forward to working closely with the Company to fully develop the potential of its ddRNAi technology," said Dr. Rossi. "Through my research at the City of Hope, I've worked extensively with RNAi, and am convinced that Benitec's ddRNAi technology holds the greatest promise for the research and development of human therapeutics due to its excellent versatility, including the fact that ddRNAi avoids the interferon response in cells, a common cause of toxicity."

"Enthusiastic support for Benitec by one as eminent as Dr. Rossi confirms that we're on the right track in capturing the advantages of our proprietary ddRNAi technology and moving it towards the clinic," stated John McKinley, Benitec's Chairman and CEO. "Dr. Rossi has great depth of knowledge in those areas of greatest interest to Benitec. His active involvement as Chairman of Benitec's SAB will accelerate our development programs for applying ddRNAi to the treatment of catastrophic diseases."

Dr. Rossi is Director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Dean of the Graduate School of Biological Sciences of the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA. He received his Ph.D. and carried out postdoctoral studies at Brown University Medical School. His research has focused on HIV diagnostics, the design of catalytic RNAs/ribozymes to inhibit HIV infection and clinical testing of ribozyme genes transduced into hematopoietic stem cells for autologous transplant in HIV-infected individuals. Work currently is focusing on enhancing the intracellular efficacy of ribozymes and RNA decoys via RNA trafficking and target colocalization approaches. He is currently on the editorial boards of Antisense Research and Development, Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology and Molecular Therapy.

Dr. Rossi is widely regarded as a world leader in the development of therapeutic applications of RNA interference and in clinical research for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. His innovative work over many years at the City of Hope has earned the respect of international scientists and clinicians alike.

About ddRNAi
DNA directed RNAi (ddRNAi) is a method to trigger the natural gene suppression process called RNAi that operates by destroying messenger RNA (mRNA), the courier that delivers instructions to the ribosomes within the cell to manufacture the proteins coded for by DNA. By introducing a DNA construct into a cell, Benitec's ddRNAi technology triggers the production of double stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is then cleaved into small interfering RNA (siRNA) as part of the RNAi process, resulting in the destruction of the target mRNA and knocking-down or silencing the expression of the target gene.

An alternate approach to triggering RNAi currently under development uses siRNA to directly induce the RNAi process. While both approaches trigger RNAi, Benitec's ddRNAi approach does not activate the cell's interferon (stress) response. The interferon response is a natural cellular defense mechanism that responds to double-stranded RNA, as in a virus, by shutting down many normal functions.

Benitec's ddRNAi provides the ability to control the silencing effect so that it either knocks-down or completely silences the target gene. Control can also be exerted to make the silencing effect transient or permanent. siRNA technologies under development are only capable of transient silencing and are to an extent dependent dependent on how much can enter a cell.

ddRNAi can also be used with a range of efficient delivery options not available to the siRNA approach, providing additional versatility for therapeutics development. These qualities, among others, make ddRNAi well suited to high throughput functional genomics and target validation, and provide added versatility when developing RNAi targets for drug development.

About Benitec Limited
Benitec Limited, based in Queensland, Australia, has key Intellectual Property in the field of gene silencing using DNA constructs to trigger RNA interference (granted patents include US 6,573,099; GB 2353282; AU 2001100608). The Company was the first to demonstrate RNA interference, a universal gene silencing mechanism, in mammalian and human cells. This natural mechanism is now recognized worldwide as the simplest and most precise method for shutting down the activity of any specific gene. The technology is immediately applicable to functional genomics and the identification and validation of drug targets. Benitec's technology can also be applied to the treatment of major human diseases such as cancers, autoimmune disorders and viral infections through the shutting down of disease-causative genes. Other applications include plant improvement and the breeding of viral resistant livestock. Benitec offers customers licences to undertake research and development on its expanding technology platform and tools to deliver the technology's full capability.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company's research strategy, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies and the uncertainties related to the regulatory process.

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