Provalis PLC
25 November 2002


For Immediate Release                                          26 November 2002


                Provalis Update on Glycosal Sales in the USA and
                         Renewal of NGSP Certification


At its' Annual General Meeting on 18 October 2002, Provalis plc (LSE:PRO and
NASDAQ:PVLS) reported the rapid progress of Glycosal, its' diabetes disease
diagnostic measuring glycated haemoglobin, which had sales during the first
quarter to 30 September that were almost as high as those in the whole of the
previous financial year.  Provalis made these sales to its' two semi-exclusive,
global distributors Cholestech Corporation and Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

Cholestech has subsequently reported that since launch by them in the USA in
July 2002, they have heavily promoted Glycosal (which they market as the
Cholestech GDX) and have seen encouraging sales to their customers, with nearly
1,500 instruments and over 115,000 test cartridges sold by the end of September.

This report from Cholestech reinforces Provalis' confidence for the future
prospects of Glycosal, and, to meet ongoing demand and future orders, Provalis
extended its manufacturing capacity by introducing a second full shift at its
Deeside cartridge manufacturing plant, which came on-stream earlier this year.

Following on from this, Provalis is pleased to report that it shipped
approximately 2,400 instruments and 260,000 test cartridges to its distributors
in the four months to the end of October, and then during November shipped the
one millionth Glycosal test cartridge from this plant.

Provalis is also pleased to report that, once again, Glycosal has been certified
as passing the National Glycohaemoglobin Standardisation Programme (NGSP)
requirements.  These requirements have been made more stringent this year and
Glycosal is one of the first products to meet the revised, tightened, criteria.
We believe this renewed NGSP certification should help the product to continue
its sales growth in the USA.

Commenting on Cholestech's report, Phil Gould, Chief Executive of Provalis,
said, "This is welcome news from the USA that we have been waiting for.  We have
previously reported on the promising levels of our sales to Cholestech, and we
are delighted that Cholestech are already seeing success with sales of Glycosal
to their customers.  We already have firm orders placed with us through to
February/March 2003, and we look forward to greater penetration of the US market
from repeat and growing orders for Glycosal cartridges."

Warren E. Pinckert II, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cholestech,
today said "We are very pleased with the initial market acceptance of Provalis'
Glycosal platform here in the United States.  Subsequent to our initial
agreement with Abbott Laboratories, we have begun to launch the Cholestech GDX
(Provalis' Glycosal).  We are very pleased to report that the initial demand for
the product exceeds our expectations".


                                      END


For further information:-

Dr Phil Gould, Provalis plc                                  Tel:  01244 833463
Lisa Baderoon, Buchanan Communications                       Tel:  020 7466 5000

Provalis' Internet Website ; http://www.provalis.co.uk



"Safe Harbor" Statement under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: Statements in this announcement that relate to future plans, expectations,
events, performances and the like are forward-looking statements as defined in
the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results of
events could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements due to a variety of factors.  Such factors include, among others: the
success of the Group's research and development strategy; uncertainties related
to future trial results and the regulatory process; the execution and success of
collaborative agreements with third parties; the impact of future laws,
regulations and policies; the Group's intellectual property position and the
success of patent applications for its products and technologies; stock market
trends in the Group's sector; the Group's dependence on key personnel; general
business and economic conditions; and other factors beyond the Group's control
that may cause the Group's available capital resources to be used more quickly
than expected.  These and other factors that could affect the Company's future
results are more fully described in its filings with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission, in particular the latest 20-F filing, copies of which are
available from the Company Secretary at the Company's registered address.



Notes to Editors

Provalis plc (LSE:PRO and NASDAQ:PVLS) is a pharmaceutical and medical
diagnostics company with two operating divisions:-

* Medical Diagnostics - develops and sells to world markets medical
  diagnostic products for chronic disease management.  The division's principle
  products are Glycosal and Osteosal in the areas of diabetes and osteoporosis
  respectively.

* Healthcare - sells and markets its own, and third party, branded,
  prescription medicines in the UK to GPs and hospitals through its own 
  regionally managed sales force.  The division's principle product is Diclomax, 
  a medicine for use in the treatment of musculo-skeletal disorders, and it also 
  sells products in the areas of gastroenterology, osteoporosis, migraine and
  dermatology.

Cholestech is committed to enabling people to lead longer, healthier and more
active lives.  Cholestech's Diagnostic Products and WellCheck business units
provide easy to use, accessible diagnostic tools and information to health care
practitioners in over 35 countries around the world.  Cholestech offers
efficient and economic diagnostic testing for cholesterol and related lipids,
blood glucose and glycemic control, and liver function at the point of care.
Healthcare providers can use the CLIA-waived Cholestech LDX and GDX Systems to
initiate and monitor the progress of patient therapy.  By providing effective
disease management solutions, Cholestech's goal is to be a leading provider of
diagnostic tools and information for immediate risk assessment and therapeutic
monitoring of heart disease and diabetes.

Glycosal provides accurate, real-time results outside of the laboratory, and is
suitable for point-of-care use in the physician's office or diabetes clinic, as
well as for home testing by prescription.  Glycosal eliminates the need for
expensive laboratory instruments or tedious training procedures, removing cost
and complexity as barriers to decentralized A1c testing and monitoring.  The key
facts are:-

* Glycosal is a simple, four minute, test for A1c

* Glycosal can be used by diabetic clinics, G.P.s and nurses at the 
  "point-of-care"

* Glycosal is certified by the European Reference Laboratory

* Glycosal is CLIA waived in the USA, and has NGSP certification

* The current global clinical laboratory market for A1c testing is
  approximately US$800 million

* The tighter control of diabetes is associated with the reduction of
  risk of debilitating long term complications

* Glycosal is now distributed throughout the world by Cholestech Corp.
  and Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

A1c, or HbA1c as it is also known, is formed when haemoglobin in red blood cells
binds glucose over the cells' typical 90-day life span.  The quantitative
measure of A1c has been well established as a way to determine a patient's long
term glycemic control profile.  Unlike daily glucose monitoring, which provides
a 'snapshot' of a patient's glucose level at the time of testing, A1c provides
an average level over the previous 90 days and therefore indicates the long-term
progress of a diabetics disease and therapy management.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that an A1c test be performed
every three-to-six months in all diabetes patients to determine how well glucose
has been controlled over that period of time.  The objectives are to document
blood glucose control at the initial assessment and to assess the effectiveness
of continuing care.  As a percentage of total blood haemoglobin, the goal is to
maintain an A1c level of 7% or lower.  Owing in part to infrequent testing, the
vast majority of diabetic patients have an A1c level well in excess of the
recommended 7% and are at a higher risk of developing serious complications.

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by high and fluctuating
levels of blood glucose.  It results from defects in insulin secretion, insulin
action, insulin resistance, or a combination of all three.  The disease can lead
to serious complications and premature death.  People with diabetes can reduce
such occurrences by maintaining proper blood glucose levels through diet,
exercise, medication and monitoring.  Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are the most
common forms.  Type 2 constitutes 90 percent to 95 percent of all cases; type 1
is an autoimmune disease in which the body makes no insulin.  Type 2 diabetes is
a metabolic disorder usually found in people over the age of 30.  In the Unites
States, it is recognised that nearly half of all people with Type 2 diabetes
remain undiagnosed.

Products used in testing patients with diabetes, which affects about 6 percent
of the world's population, have a compounded annual revenue growth rate of 15
percent, making them the fastest growing product segment in the in vitro
diagnostic (IVD) industry. Diabetes continues to reach epidemic proportions,
with nearly 150 million suffering worldwide (10 million Americans) with direct
and indirect costs in the United States alone of almost $100 billion annually.
Indirect costs of $55 billion include disability, work loss and premature
mortality.  At about $3 billion per year, glucose-monitoring products represent
a large percentage of direct expenditures.

Diabetes can lead to complications including heart disease, stroke, high blood
pressure, blindness, nerve damage, kidney damage, periodontal disease,
amputation, congenital malformations incurred during pregnancy and diabetic
coma.  People with diabetes are more susceptible to many other illnesses, such
as pneumonia and influenza.  The risk of death from these illnesses and
complications is significantly greater than that for the general population.

According to the ADA, the death rate from diabetes has increased by 50 percent
since 1985, while death rates from heart disease and stroke have been declining.
Some population groups are at higher risk for diabetes as they age.  The risk
factors are family history, age, sex and ethnic background.  Obesity, unhealthy
diet and a sedentary lifestyle increase disease prevalence.

CLIA, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Act in 1988, was
passed by Congress in the USA in 1988, establishing quality standards for all
laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy and reliability of all laboratory
tests, regardless of where the test was performed. The CLIA regulations are
based on the complexity of the test method, and the more complex the test
method, the more stringent the requirements are for the laboratory which carries
out the test. Test methods are assessed by the FDA and the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services and assigned one of three complexity ratings, namely, waived
test, moderately complex test and highly complex test. For a test to be
designated as waived it must be so simple and accurate as to render the
likelihood of obtaining an erroneous result as negligible.

The National Glycohemoglobin Standardisation Program (NGSP) Certification is
carried out on an annual basis, by the test manufacturers. Certification
consists of independent reference laboratory proving that the assay is accurate
(i.e. that the result is very close to a DCCT result) and precise (i.e. that the
result is very consistent and doesn't vary from test to test). The criteria that
the NGSP use to grant certification are very stringent and many laboratory tests
failed to make the mark. Full details of the assessment criteria can be found at
the NGSP website (http://web.missouri.edu/diabetes/ngsp.html).


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

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