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Benitec and Tranzyme Announce Collaboration Agreement for Gene Silencing Technology

February 27, 2003

QUEENSLAND, Australia and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC - (February 27, 2003) Benitec, Ltd., (ASX: BLT) and Tranzyme, Inc. announced today that they have entered a Collaboration Agreement to jointly develop and market their gene silencing and gene delivery technologies.

The combination of Benitec's High Throughput (HTP) gene silencing technology announced on 7 January 2003 and Tranzyme's industry-proven gene delivery and expression technology offers customers a revolutionary means of producing gene 'knockdowns' quickly and efficiently. The combined technologies will be ideal for both in vitro and in vivo applications. The Collaboration will target the pharmaceutical industry and will fast-track the discovery and validation of drug targets. The Companies will share revenues arising from the Collaboration and will also develop proprietary targets using the combined technology for future joint commercialization. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"This Collaboration is further evidence of Benitec successfully pursuing its commercialization strategy", said John McKinley, Benitec's CEO. "We are establishing partnerships that combine our gene silencing technology with novel and proprietary delivery mechanisms. Our partnership with Tranzyme will provide our customers with a one-stop solution for their needs. Together, we will provide an unrivalled product offering to customers needing solutions to the bottleneck of identifying and validating targets for their drug development pipeline".

"To realize the full power of gene silencing, it is necessary to deliver the genes encoding the RNAi to the desired cell type in a variety of settings, be it in cell culture or in live animals," added Vipin K. Garg, Ph.D., President & CEO of Tranzyme, Inc. "The combined technology will have great commercial value. Moreover, gene silencing complements Tranzyme's solution to overcome the current bottlenecks of the drug discovery process by providing seamless functional biology to isolate qualified targets and unravel the complexities of physiological pathways."

Benitec, based in Queensland Australia, has key Intellectual Property in the field of gene silencing using DNA to trigger RNA Interference. 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 silencing any specific gene. The technology is immediately applicable to and promises to revolutionize the field of functional genomics- the determination of gene function. 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 licenses to undertake research and development on its expanding technology platform and tools to deliver the technology's capability. See www.benitec.com.au for more information.

Tranzyme, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on genomics-based discovery and development of innovative therapies for the treatment of neurosensory diseases. These diseases affect the sense organs that mediate vision, hearing, balance, taste and smell. Tranzyme has developed a platform of proprietary enabling technologies that exploits a seamless transition of the drug discovery process from in vitro to ex vivo to in vivo model systems. The Company's technologies include a unique protein expression technology (TExTT), a proprietary gene transfer technology (TranzVectorT), an assay development and drug discovery technology (TranzAssayT), and a revolutionary new technology for creating genetically modified animals (TranzEmbryoT). Tranzyme is discovering and developing new therapeutic lead compounds in partnership with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, Tranzyme is focused on building an intellectual property portfolio of novel therapeutic targets for neurosensory diseases. See www.tranzyme.com for more information.

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This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect Benitec'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 Benitec's research strategy, the application of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies and the uncertainties related to the regulatory process.