Notifiable Interest

Aortech International PLC 20 February 2002 Aortech International plc ('Aortech') announces that it received notification yesterday of the following: 1. 3i Group plc has a revised notifiable interest in 2,035,996 Ordinary Shares in Aortech representing approximately 5.34% of the issued share capital. The registered holder of these shares is BNY (OCS) Nominees Limited a/c 3i plc. 2. Friends Ivory & Sime plc has a revised notifiable interest in 5,517,869 Ordinary Shares in Aortech representing approximately 14.48% of the issued share capital. Such interest includes the material interests of the clients of Friends Ivory & Sime plc referred to below: Name of Client No. of shares % Name of Registered Holder The AIM Trust Plc 2,113,409 5.55 Chase Nominees Ltd 3PC Investment Trust 797,872 2.09 Chase Nominees Ltd The AIM VCT Trust 509,806 1.34 Chase Nominees Ltd Baronsmead VCT2 162,341 0.43 Chase Nominees Ltd Baronsmead VCT Plc 127,341 0.33 Chase Nominees Ltd FP Equity Trust 41,800 0.11 Citifriends FIS UK Mid/Smaller Companies 1,496,500 3.92 Citifriends FP UK Growth Trust 48,800 0.13 Citifriends FISMPF UK Smaller Companies 145,000 0.38 Citifriends FISIS ICVC Aim Growth Fund 75,000 0.20 Citifriends Friends Provident Life Office, as the holding company of Friends Ivory & Sime plc is also interested in the shares referred to directly above. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange