Melbourne, Mar 27, 2008 (ABN Newswire) - The Directors of Solagran Limited (ASX: SLA)(PNK: SOGRF) are pleased to announce the formal opening of the SibEX production facility in Tomsk in south western Siberia. SibEX is now an 85 percent owned subsidiary of Solagran Limited.

The facility was opened on Thursday 20 March 2008, by the Governor of the Tomsk Region, Mr Victor Kress. Also in attendance at the opening ceremony were the Deputy Governor Mrs Oksana Kozlovskaya and the Chairman of the Tomsk Regional Duma, Mr Boris Maltsev, together with many other dignitaries.

The event generated significant interest within the Tomsk Region, and was the subject of a great deal of coverage and discussion in the mass media.

Participants in the opening ceremony spoke of the significance of the SibEX plant as the world's first commercial production facility for the isolation of plant polyprenols at purity levels acceptable for use in prescription medicines. Speakers congratulated all those involved in the project, including the engineers and designers, the construction contractors and all those involved in the development and construction process. They also acknowledged the importance of the plant, not only for the economic and social wellbeing of the Tomsk Region, but also for Russia generally as well as for the wider international community.

Polyprenols are perhaps the most interesting and valuable new class of pharmaceutical substance developed over the past 30-35 years, and have been the subject of a great many articles in scientific journals, particularly in Russia and Japan.

Polyprenols are long chain isoprenoid alcohols which play a key role in cell metabolism. They are known to be effective in dealing with a range of conditions (hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and conditions associated with chronic alcoholism) for which there are no satisfactory existing treatments. They have also been proven to have very low side effects. They are extremely powerful as liver protectors.

Far too complex to synthesise, until now polyprenols have only been available to researchers in analytical quantities and at levels of purity well below that required for pharmaceutical production. Solagran's internationally patented technology now permits production of high purity polyprenols in commercial quantities.

Bioeffective R, the active ingredient in the prescription medicine Ropren which regulators released for sale in Russia last week, comprises a very specific combination of polyprenols. As part of the proceedings last Thursday, those present had an opportunity to become acquainted with a number of stages of the production process. Dr Vladimir Karpitsky, the chief technologist at SibEX, demonstrated the final step in the polyprenols production process.

In the plant, pine needles go through ten separate technological processes. All production equipment in the facility is non standard in nature and was designed and built specifically for this plant by the Siberian Chemical Production Plant.

During the opening ceremony, representatives of the Tomsk Regional Government again emphasised the importance of having a biotechnology company with world leading technology focusing its production activities in their region - particularly when that technology was already commercialised. They also once again made it very clear that Solagran would have their full and unqualified support in establishing a much larger GMP certified facility within the Tomsk Special Economic Zone.
In opening the plant, Mr Kress said "It is a doubly pleasurable for me to see this production being done using accumulated knowledge, Solagran technology which has been brought to life in Tomsk, and using the endless supply of raw materials available in this region." The Deputy Governor Mrs Kozlovskaya added that "the opening of this plant inaugurates the creation of the biotechnological complex in the Tomsk Region. The nanotechnological concepts and ideas that Solagran is planning to realise in the Special Economic Zone are really pioneering ones."

As planned, Governor Kress and Solagran Director Charles Pellegrino signed a special cooperation agreement between Solagran and the Tomsk Regional Government, the intention of which was outlined in an announcement to the market on 13 March 2008.

The Board would like to acknowledge publicly the very significant efforts of the team at SibEX led by Alexander Kurganov for their enormous effort over the last 12 months in bringing this facility to life.

More details in relation to the Russian media coverage of the opening will be released at a later date.

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