Aventis and Intercell Sign Collaboration and License Agreement to Develop Bacterial vaccines

VIENNA 17th February (PROTEXT/ots) - Swiftwater, PA andVienna, Intercell AG and Aventis S.A. announced today the signingof a commercial license agreement for the development ofbacterial vaccines.

Under the terms of the agreement, Intercell will apply itsAntigen Identification Program (AIP) to identify relevantantigens, which will allow Aventis Pasteur, the vaccines businessof Aventis, to develop a next generation protein-based vaccine.

Intercell will receive upfront payments, license fees,research and development funding, milestone payments, androyalty payments on product sales. Aventis Pasteur will receiveexclusive worldwide rights to commercialize the vaccinesdeveloped in the collaboration. Further financial details of theagreement were not disclosed.

Aventis Pasteur is a leader and innovator in the vaccinefield, and this collaboration validates our capabilities in thedevelopment of novel and improved vaccine products, statedIntercells CEO Alexander von Gabain. Intercells AIP is a novel,utterly comprehensive, rapid genomic technology foridentification of the most protective pathogen antigens that arediscovered, using human immune responses as the discoveryengine.

This program will enable Aventis Pasteur to maintain itsleadership position in next generation vaccine development,commented Dr. Jeffrey Almond, senior vice-president, globalresearch and external R&D at Aventis Pasteur. We expect that thecollaboration will allow Aventis Pasteur to significantlyimprove its competitive position in the focus area of thecollaboration.

About Intercell

Intercell is a biotechnology company focused on thedevelopment of vaccines against infectious diseases. Intercellslead products are, a therapeutic hepatitis C vaccine, which hasentered Phase II clinical testing in November 2002, and a vaccineagainst Japanese encephalitis that has successfully undergone aphase II clinical study. A phase III clinical study is plannedfor 2004.

To date, Intercell AG has succeeded in raising venturecapital totaling USD 100 million since becoming operational.

For further information on Intercell AG visit:www.intercell.com

Intercell AG contact: Dr. Hannelore Gude Hohensinner Head ofCorporate Communication Phone: +43-1-20620-116 mailto:hgude@intercell.com

About Aventis

Aventis is dedicated to treating and preventing disease bydiscovering and developing innovative prescription drugs andhuman vaccines. In 2003, Aventis generated sales of 16.79billion, invested 2.86 billion in research and development andemployed approximately 69,000 people in its core business.Aventis corporate headquarters are in Strasbourg, France. Formore information, please visit: www.aventis.com.

Aventis Pasteur, the vaccines business of Aventis, produced1.4 billion doses of vaccine in 2003, making it possible toprotect 500 million people across the globe, which is about 1.4million per day. The company offers the broadest range ofvaccines, providing protection against 20 bacterial and viraldiseases. For more information, please visit:www.aventispasteur.com

Aventis Pasteur contact: Len Lavenda Aventis Pasteur US MediaRelations Tel.: +1 570 839 4446 Len.Lavenda@Aventis.com

For Intercell

This press release contains forward-looking statements thatinvolve inherent risks and uncertainties. We have identifiedcertain important factors that may cause actual results to differmaterially from those contained in such forward-lookingstatements.

For Aventis

Statements in this news release containing projections orestimates of revenues, income, earnings per share, capitalexpenditures, capital structure, or other financial items; plansand objectives relating to future operations, products, orservices; future economic performance; or assumptions underlyingor relating to any such statements, are forward-lookingstatements subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual resultscould differ materially depending on factors such as the timingand effects of regulatory actions, the results of clinicaltrials, the companys relative success developing and gainingmarket acceptance for new products, the outcome of significantlitigation, and the effectiveness of patent protection.Additional information regarding risks and uncertainties is setforth in the current Annual Report on Form 20-F of Aventis onfile with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in thecurrent Annual Report -"Document de Référence"- on file with the"Commission des Opérations de Bourse" in France, recently renamedAutorité des marchés financiers. Photo: Intercells CEO Alexandervon Gabain http://www.ots.at/meldung.php?kette=S+KETTE_20040217_OTS9091331 01237&vondatum=20040214 orhttp://www.ots.at/preview.php?schluessel=BILD_20040217_OBS0001

Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug"PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to bepublished under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial serviceproviding distribution of press releases from clients, who areidentified in the text of Protext reports and who bear fullresponsibility for their contents.

PROTEXT