OXONICA AND CRODA FORM PARTNERSHIP TO DRIVE OXONICA'S UV ABSORBER OPTISOL™ INTO THE GLOBAL COSMETICS MARKET

Oxonica plc, a leading European nanotechnology group, is pleased to announce that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Croda, a global speciality chemicals group, to distribute Oxonica's Optisol™ UV absorber into the international personal care market.

Optisol™ was launched in 2004, and is currently incorporated within the Boots Soltan Facial range. Over the past year, Oxonica has focused on increasing the awareness of Optisol™ within the major cosmetic houses, and to this end, has achieved several successful evaluations as well as a nomination for “best new technology” at the HBA awards ceremony in New York in September 2005. The partnership with Croda is geared towards crystallising some of these early evaluations.

Croda will provide its sales channel and technical expertise to broaden the commercialisation of Optisol™ across a wider customer base, with an initial focus on the Americas, Europe and Australia. Croda's global marketing network will allow a greater market penetration of the innovative Optisol™.  Oxonica will work closely with Croda to provide technical and product development support.

Dr Kevin Matthews, Oxonica's CEO, said:
“Oxonica is delighted to announce its commercial partnership with Croda, in a deal that makes Optisol™ available to the global cosmetics market worldwide. At our admission to AIM in July, we said we would look for partner relationships to broaden our marketing and sales outlets and this agreement with Croda successfully demonstrates that strategy.”

Dr Keith Layden, President of Enterprise Technology at Croda, said:
“Croda has been supplying high quality speciality chemicals to the personal care market for over 80 years and the company's focus has been on the development of ever more sophisticated ingredients and actives covering all aspects of personal care. The addition of Optisol™ to our portfolio will allow us to offer our customers ground-breaking improvements in the performance of sunscreens, skincare and cosmetics”

David Browning, Business Director responsible for the commercialisation of Optisol™, commented:
“The technology was developed in association with the University of Oxford. Optisol™ improves protection against exposure to sunlight and its unique technology acts to stabilise formulations and components, including vitamins and plant extracts, in a wide variety of cosmetics.”

For further information please contact:

Internal PR Contact

Vortex PR
Island House, Forest Road, Forest, Guernsey GY8 0AB, Great Britain
Tel +44 1481 233080,   Fax +44 1481 233082  Mobile +44 7766 705866


NOTES

About Optisol ™
Optisol™ has three potential benefits which address issues recognised as important in the
suncare and cosmetics industry:

·         Broadband absorption in the UVB and UVA regions

·         Suppression of light generated production of potentially harmful free radicals

·         Scavenging of free radicals to improve photostability of suncare and cosmetics formulations

The Company points out, that sunscreen products still need to be applied frequently to combat the effects of sweating and physical abrasion that causes their removal and that caution should be applied with regard to any exposure to the sun to prevent skin damage.

About Oxonica – www.oxonica.com
Oxonica is one of Europe's leading nanomaterials groups, with products already launched into international markets. The company was spun-out from the University of Oxford in 1999 and is based in Oxford, England. Oxonica currently employs 37 professional staff and is led by a strong and commercially experienced management team. Oxonica's mission is to focus on the development of innovative commercial solutions for international markets using its expertise in the design and application of nanomaterials. It owns a diverse portfolio of demand driven products that offer substantial benefits to the target markets of environmental, healthcare and materials.

Lead products include:
·                     Envirox™ Fuel Borne Nanocatalyst – a nanocatalyst improving fuel economy and reducing emissions
·                     Optisol™ UV Absorber – a revolutionary photostable UV protection system designed to optimise the performance of quality sunscreens and anti-premature aging products

Oxonica is also active in searching for the next generation of products and is already engaged in developing transformational detection technologies which will enable a new generation of ultrasensitive multiplex diagnostic tools for the clinical diagnostic and life science markets. In addition, the company is developing other UV absorber technologies into polymer systems and coatings, based on similar technologies to that used in Optisol™.

Oxonica completed a £2.6 million rights issue and employee fundraising (net of expenses) in February 2005. It then completed a £7.1 million placing (net of expenses) and its ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM on 20 July 2005. The admission to AIM has raised additional capital for the Group's development, improved its profile internationally with customers and suppliers and has assisted in the recruitment, retention and incentivisation of employees.

About Croda – www.croda.com
Croda manufactures and supplies a diverse range of speciality chemicals and chemical products, based mainly on naturally occurring raw materials. Specialising in high added value products, Croda is a leading supplier of active ingredients for the high growth personal care and health care markets.