October 10, 2002

News Release: ID Biomedical announces positive results on vaccine against bioterrorist warfare agent

ID Biomedical (IDB TSX) announced today encouraging results from pre-clinical studies of its nasally delivered Proteosome(TM)- based Plague pneumonia vaccine. Mice immunized nasally with the Proteosome(TM)- based Plague vaccine developed high levels of antibodies in the blood, as well as in respiratory lavage fluids. These antibodies specifically recognized the major protective Plague antigen. Furthermore, this vaccine elicited a high degree of protection against death in animals challenged by exposure to an aerosol containing a large inoculum of lethal Plague bacteria. Based on these results, ID Biomedical and the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) have extended their Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to continue further development of this promising vaccine candidate. Detailed results and final data are expected to be presented to the scientific community in 2003.

"These exciting results further evidence the paramount importance of nasally delivered Proteosome(TM)-based vaccines that have the ability to confer more complete protection by eliciting both a strong mucosal immune response on the surface of the respiratory tract and a strong systemic immune response in the blood stream," said George Lowell, M.D. COL US Army (ret.), ID Biomedical's Chief Scientific Officer. "This is critical when developing vaccines against bioterrorism agents like Plague bacteria, which attack humans by inhalation. Therefore, for optimal biodefense, nasal vaccines are most effective because they can prevent infections of the respiratory tract."

The Plague, also known as "the Black Death," is caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria. In past centuries, there have been over 150 recorded epidemics and pandemics of the Plague, including a pandemic that killed about one-third of the population of Europe and England. Plague pneumonia is highly contagious because large numbers of Plague bacteria can rapidly spread person-to-person through coughing and initial symptoms are similar to the flu. There is no licensed vaccine against the pneumonic form of Plague. The injected formalin- killed whole cell vaccine made many years ago does not protect against inhaled exposure to Plague bacteria and has been withdrawn from the market.

USAMRMC, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the Army's medical materiel developer, with lead agency responsibility for medical research, product development, technology assessment and rapid prototyping, medical logistics management and health facility planning, and medical information management and technology. The USAMRMC's expertise in these critical areas helps establish and maintain the capabilities required by the Army to fight and win on the battlefield.

The USAMRMC operates six medical research laboratories and institutes in the United States. These laboratories make up the core science and technology (S&T) capability of the Command. The Command's in-house S&T capabilities are enhanced by a large extramural contract research program and numerous cooperative research and development (R&D) agreements with leading R&D organizations in the civilian sector.

About ID Biomedical

ID Biomedical is a North American based biotechnology company focused on the development of proprietary subunit vaccine products, including those based on its Proteosome(TM) platform intranasal adjuvant/delivery technology. ID Biomedical has also developed a proprietary genomics analysis system, Cycling Probe(TM) Technology.

ID Biomedical is developing subunit vaccines for the prevention of a number of different diseases. The Company's lead products in clinical development are the FluINsure(TM) intranasal influenza (flu) vaccine and the StreptAvax(TM) group A streptococcal vaccine. Additionally, the Company has a number of vaccines in preclinical development.

ID Biomedical is licensing Cycling Probe Technology as well as its broad patents in signal amplification to the genomics and diagnostic industry for further products and technology development. Several companies have obtained rights to ID Biomedical's patent portfolio.

The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.

The foregoing information contains so-called forward-looking statements. These include statements about ID Biomedical's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for the future, which it indicates by words or phrases such as "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "we believe", "ID Biomedical believes", "management believes" and similar language. All forward-looking statements are based on ID Biomedical's current expectations and are subject to risks uncertainties and to assumptions made. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include: (i) the ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of its products; ii) the ability to obtain and enforce timely patent and intellectual property protection for its technology and products; iii) the ability to avoid, either by product design, licensing arrangement or otherwise, infringement of third parties' intellectual property; iv) decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by the health regulatory agencies regarding approval of its products for human testing; v) the ability to complete and maintain corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of its technology and products; vi) market acceptance of its technology and product; and (vii) the competitive environment and impact of technological change. ID Biomedical bases its forward-looking statements on information currently available to it, and assumes no obligation to update them.

For further information: ID Biomedical Corporation, Dean Linden,
Manager, Corporate Communications, (604) 431-9314, www.idbiomedical.com

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