XENOVA GETS A KICK FROM COCAINE VACCINE

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - British biotechnology company Xenova Group Plc
said Monday it won a green light from U.S. regulators to resume clinical
trials on the world's first anti-cocaine addiction vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration put a "clinical hold" on TA-CD last August
after a related anti-nicotine product caused eye irritation in rabbits. No
such effects were observed with the cocaine vaccine, however, and human
testing restrictions have now been lifted.

Shares in Xenova gained 4.3 percent 48-1/2 pence on the news -- but the
stock is still languishing at less than half its end-2000 level of 105p,
reflecting scepticism about a merger with fellow UK biotech Cantab earlier
this year.

TA-CD -- a product from the Cantab stable -- works by generating antibodies
in the bloodstream that prevent cocaine from crossing into the brain,
thereby blocking the normal "high" generated by cocaine.

It could help addicts trying to kick their habit during the nine months it
typically takes for cocaine craving to disappear.

New Phase IIa trial data presented at a drug addiction meeting in Arizona
showed TA-CD was well tolerated in a nine-patient study and showed signs of
efficacy. Five subjects stayed off cocaine and the other four experienced
"an attenuation of the usual euphoric effects of cocaine."

Drug treatment researchers said Monday the treatment could help in the
initial stages of withdrawal.

"People begin getting the medication and in part are protected from the
risk and temptation of getting high," said George Bigelow, a researcher at
The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. who works on developing
medications to treat cocaine and heroin addiction.

"One of the things we've seen in some other treatments is, though they're
biologically effective, they're not well received by patients," Bigelow said.

Addicts often simply do not want to quit, he said.

VACCINE MAY BE SOLD OFF

Industry analysts said the cocaine vaccine was not a core product for
Xenova and Chief Executive David Oxlade acknowledged it was one of a number
of programs that might be spun off as part of a restructuring overhaul.

"At the time of our interim results in mid-August we will give a
product-by-product update...this could fall into either category," he told
Reuters.

"Although TA-CD is not within our major area of focus, which is cancer, it
nonetheless has substantial commercial potential."

Xenova announced last month it would cut its portfolio and shed a quarter
of its work force in a bid to cut operating costs by some nine million
pounds ($12.7 million) a year, compared with expenditure last year of 24.3
million.

A new Phase II study, during which addicts will be given cocaine before and
after vaccination to test the effect of TA-CD, is due to start shortly at
Columbia University with an as-yet determined number of participants, with
the support of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

An estimated 900,000 people seek treatment for cocaine addiction every year
in the United States alone and Oxlade said any product helping them kick
the habit was likely to command a good price, since most were affluent and
well-insured.

Andrew Forsyth, biotechnology analyst at Williams de Broe, said the cocaine
news was encouraging but the fortunes of the company hinged more on its
cancer products.

Xenova has a total of eight products in clinical trials and hopes to
conclude a deal on a XR 9576, designed to fight multi-drug resistant
cancer, by the end of the third quarter.