Bioprogress is a stock I have been in and out of quite a few times since it floated in May but not much mention here on the Investors' Room. Does anyone else follow this stock. I see it is up 1.5p today and a few good buyers seem to have appeared.

GF,

You mention the "major US pharmaceutical company" contract, but of more immediate interest is the FMC contract which was due to have been signed by the end of 2003. The recent rights issue was to generate BPRGs share of the funding to build a film manufacturing facility to meet this contract.

http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200310200700060547R.html refers

FMC deal on track according to RNS today

I also received the following email from FMC this morning:

Mr. **********,
In response to your question below, the discussions with BioProgress are progressing nicely, and we expect an announcement regarding completion sometime in February after the conference call.

Best regards,

Eric W. Norris
Phone: 215-299-6538
Fax: 215-299-6931
E-mail: eric_norris@fmc.com

The conference call is on 3rd February.

Schweco nominees now hold 6%

Looks like the shares are consolidating before a bounce

Srarting to break out hopefully. Looked better today than for a long time.

cheers GF.

Bones Excelent work with the e-mail.

cheers GF.

OH just forgot, watch out for a positive company statement from Bioprogress probably thursday or friday. Remember you saw it here first.

cheers GF.

BioProgress PLC
04 February 2004


Press Release 4 February 2004

BioProgress plc

FMC BioPolymer and BioProgress execute a multi-million dollar
Global Licensing Agreement


BioProgress plc ('BioProgress') (LSE:AIM:BPRG) has executed agreements with FMC
BioPolymer ('FMC'), a business unit of FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) whereby FMC
has acquired an exclusive worldwide licence for the BioProgress NROBE(R) dosage
form, process, equipment and enabling technology. FMC will assume full
responsibility for the commercialisation of NROBE(R).

The licensing agreement signed today runs to 2023 and under its terms FMC has
provided contractual assurances that a minimum number of NROBE(R) machines will
be purchased from BioProgress within the first six years following
commercialisation. The sales value of machines during this initial period is
expected to exceed $80 million.

In addition, FMC has contracted to purchase from BioProgress a minimum of 50% of
its global NROBE(R) film requirement for the next three years.

The value of the contract is not entirely quantifiable, as BioProgress' revenues
will depend partly on the usage that FMC's customers make of each machine.
However, it is the expectation of BioProgress that the contracts signed today
are likely to generate a minimum of $160 million of revenue to BioProgress over
the first six years following commercialisation, including machine sales, film
manufacturing contract sales and royalties payable to BPRG on the revenues
generated by FMC from sales of film, whether produced or developed by
BioProgress or by FMC, for use with the NROBE(R) dosage form.

Graham Hind, Chief Executive of BioProgress, said: 'This deal marks a very
significant step in our development and is a deal which we expect will deliver a
significant and increasing revenue stream to BioProgress through to 2023. By
partnering with FMC BioPolymer, we have a global offering with an expert
pharmaceutical supplier. Broad commercial relevance will be demonstrated by the
strength of the NROBE(R) product and the reach of FMC. We believe NROBE(R) can
capture a significant share of the sizeable market for capsules and tablets over
the long-term.

Robin Mitchell, business director of the FMC unit that will focus on NROBE(R)
said, 'We are creating a focused, experienced and highly motivated team to push
this technology forward. We are very excited about the capabilities of NROBE(R)
and its future role in oral pharmaceutical dosage forms and I am confident that
we have the means to succeed. It is vital, however, that all aspects of our
business model meet the expectations of prospective pharmaceutical customers.
This includes the soundness of the base technology, the highest possible
standards for supply of equipment, film and other materials, through to service
and support.'

David Simcox, General Manager of FMC's Pharmaceutical and Personal Care
business, said: 'As a new dosage form concept, we believe that NROBE(R) has the
potential to deliver benefits in the form of consumer product appeal and product
differentiation, manufacturing process efficiencies, and simpler and more rapid
product development. NROBE(R) may also improve the oral delivery of certain
activities.

'This is a further demonstration of FMC's commitment to a strategy of growth
through the effective combination of internal and external expertise and
technologies. FMC BioPolymer has expertise and resources that will help bring
NROBE(R) to market efficiently with a robust commercial model. Our proprietary
biopolymer technologies are a great complement to the NROBE(R) system that
BioProgress has developed.'

- Ends -

For further information:
BioProgress plc
Graham Hind, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 1354 655 674
grahamhind@bioprogress.com www.bioprogress.com
Media enquiries:
Bankside for BioProgress
Heather Salmond / Julian Bosdet Tel: +44 (0) 20 7444 4140
heather.salmond@bankside.com www.bankside.com
Plug for FMC BioPolymer
Toby Luther Tel: + 1 212 233 6578
tluther@plug.co.uk www.plug.co.uk

Notes to editors:

BioProgress plc

BioProgress listed on AIM in May 2003 and is engaged in the research,
development, and design of patented encapsulation systems that use water soluble
and biodegradable films for the dietary supplement, pharmaceutical and other
sectors. The Company's patent portfolio comprises over sixty patents within
sixteen patent families and has product development agreements and strategic
alliances with several global companies. BioProgress aims to provide a cost
effective and animal-free encapsulation process for pharmaceutical drugs in
liquids, tablets and powders, thereby addressing the needs of the entire market
for oral dosage forms while providing novel delivery mechanisms not possible
with traditional processes.

The Company has also developed patented and licensed the world's first flushable
ostomy pouch that offers a newly enhanced quality of life not previously
possible for the end user. Market research shows the global ostomy market to be
worth $1 billion annually. The Company's business model provides it with
several significant revenue streams including sales of encapsulating machines
and film, plus licence and fees for research development services.


FMC Corporation

FMC Corporation is a diversified chemical company serving agricultural,
industrial and consumer markets globally for more than a century with innovative
solutions, applications and quality products. The company employs over 5,300
people throughout the world. The company divides its businesses into three
segments: Agricultural Products, Specialty Chemicals and Industrial Chemicals.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

One day earlier than your forecast GF, you're slipping. :-)

.

Yup pae, think its because Im getting older. Fantastic deal though. Just look at those revenues over the first three and six years. Cracking deal.

cheers GF.

Goldfinger
Is the FMC contract the 'major US pharmacutical company' you refered to in previous posts? Or is there more good news to come?

FMC is a worldwide exclusive deal for the NRobe technology, one of four technologies that BPRG is developing under the X-Gel heading. The unnamed US top ten pharma company deal is for rights to (possibly) TABWRAP (or another of the four technologies) but this covers only the US and some other territory (need to check RNS). That deal also entails the building of a film plant in the USA.

BPRG already have the deal with Harro Hoefliger to build and maintain all the required machines.

BPRG also already have a deal with Bristol Myers Squibb (Convatec) regarding the production of flushable ostomy pouches.

All these deals are coming on stream and there are plenty left to do. All will generate royalties as production etc is signed over to the big partners they do the deals with. Sounds like ARM holdings to me (in its early days)! Also based in Cambridge!!

Bones
Many thanks for your info. I think I will hold.

geoffcow:

http://www.citywire.co.uk/partners/default.asp?vid=62507&PageNumber=1

More big contract news to come with a US company. To sell now would be silly.

cheers GF.

-> BONES

"The Letter of Intent provides that the US company will purchase an exclusive
license for one of the BioProgress XGEL(R) dosage forms in a specific market
sector and for the geographic areas of North America and the European Union."

The agreement also includes setting up a film manufacturing plant in the US, which will supply film to other US customers using the other usage forms.

It was "anticipated that a formal agreement will be completed on or before January 31st 2004", so it's now past its Sell By. Word on the street is that it's expected *very* soon and may dwarf the FMC deal....

Oh boy.....But hey, what a day today!

http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200311240835023956S.html

Thanks publess. If they follow up with this next deal quickly, there could be a stampede for shares. Of course, the hard work of getting the lines up and running and producing film en masse needs to be well-managed but there's no doubt this is a case of years of R&D suddenly blooming into real commerce very quickly.

Don't forget that BPRG floated on AIM last May at 16p. Before that you could only trade them on the OTC Nasdaq bulletin board and they changed hands back in 2000 at $6 (4+) on the potential which is now so much nearer.

Latest Lemming investor piece on BPRG.

I bought more today

:-)http://www.lemminginvestor.com/BPRGfmc.html