Medicago signs collaboration and licensing agreement for therapeutic protein production technology

    QUEBEC CITY, Dec. 19 /CNW/ - Medicago Inc. (TSX-V: MDG) (the "Company"),
today announced that it has entered into a collaboration and non-exclusive
licensing agreement with an undisclosed Fortune 100 company (the "Partner") to
develop a product outside of the Company's core development pipeline. Medicago
will receive a payment of $500,000 for the initial collaboration. The
agreement also provides opportunities for additional collaboration efforts.
    Under terms of this initial agreement, Medicago will collaborate with the
Partner to advance the Company's proprietary transient expression system to
produce a therapeutic protein with a human-compatible glycosylation pattern.
The glycosylation pattern refers to the pattern and types of sugars that are
attached to the protein and this pattern is different for all production
systems for recombinant proteins. The ability to produce recombinant proteins
with a consistent human-compatible glycosylation pattern is an important
commercial goal since differences in the glycosylation pattern on recombinant
proteins can result in differences in safety and efficacy.
    "We have the ability to produce recombinant proteins with a
human-compatible glycosylation pattern without sacrificing the simplicity,
speed and capacity of our proprietary transient expression system. This
partnership will allow us to realize additional value from this cutting-edge
technology," said Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago.

    About Medicago Inc.

    Medicago is committed to provide highly effective and affordable vaccines
based on proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) and manufacturing technologies.
Medicago is developing VLP vaccines to protect against H5N1 pandemic
influenza, using a transient expression system which produces recombinant
vaccine antigens in the cells of non-transgenic plants. This technology has
potential to offer advantages of speed and cost over competitive technologies.
It could deliver a vaccine for testing in about a month after the
identification and reception of genetic sequences from a pandemic strain. This
production time frame has the potential to allow vaccination of the population
before the first wave of a pandemic strikes and to supply large volumes of
vaccine antigens to the world market.
    Additional information about Medicago is available at www.medicago.com

    Forward Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the
Company's current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ
materially from those projected herein. The Company disclaims any obligation
to update these forward-looking statements.

    The TSX Venture Exchange assumes no responsibility for the content or
    accuracy of this press release

For further information: Medicago Inc., Andy Sheldon, President and CEO,
(418) 658-9393, info@medicago.com; The Equicom Group Inc., Arianna Vanin,
Investor Relations, (514) 844-4680, avanin@equicomgroup.com