Agritope, Inc. today reported that, for the second quarter of fiscal 1998 ended March 31, 1998, revenues were $238,000 compared with $226,000 in the prior year. The net loss for the quarter was $1.02 million ($0.25 per share) versus a loss of $873,000 ($0.32 per share) for the second quarter of fiscal 1997, according to Adolph J. Ferro, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer.

Commenting on recent activities, Ferro said, "We reached a number of important milestones in the first half of fiscal 1998. We established Agritope as an independent public company by raising over $10 million of equity capital. We formed a strong strategic alliance with the French company Vilmorin & Cie, one of the largest vegetable seed producers in the world. We also moved into a new research and corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon. And lastly, our Vinifera grapevine nursery expanded their already significant inroads into the premium wine grapevine market by booking almost twice as many orders for 1998 as it shipped in 1997."

"In March, Vinifera made its first shipments of grapevines for the 1998 planting season. Orders on hand call for shipment of $2.7 million of plants by September 1998. The current order file is almost double the $1.4 million of sales made for the 1997 planting season. In addition, Vinifera has orders totaling $800,000 for the 1999 planting season," Ferro continued.

Research and development costs in the current fiscal year reflect increased activity in targeting new fruit and vegetable crops for the company's ethylene control technology as well as stepped-up research in assessing the potential of technology obtained from the Salk Institute. Costs and expenses for both the first and second quarter of this year reflected additional charges incurred in the establishment of Agritope as an independent company, including the move to a new location.

For the six months ended March 31, 1998, revenues were $254,000, essentially unchanged from $252,000 reported in the same period of fiscal 1997. The net loss for the period was $2.2 million ($0.67 per share), compared to a loss of $5.1 million ($1.89 per share) in the first half of fiscal 1997. The improvement in operating results for the first six months of the fiscal year is largely due to the fact that the first quarter of fiscal 1997 included non-recurring charges of $3.1 million.

On December 30, 1997, Epitope, Inc., Agritope's former parent company, distributed 2,690,776 shares of Agritope common stock, representing I 00% of the shares then outstanding, to Epitope shareholders on the basis of one Agritope share for every five shares of Epitope common stock held as of December 26, 1997. On December 31, 1997, Agritope sold 1,343,704 shares of Agritope common stock in a private placement to certain investors for an aggregate price of $9.4 million. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, on January 8, 1998, the Company sold 214,285 shares of Series A Preferred Stock to Vilmorin & Cie, for an aggregate of $1.5 n-@llion.

A tabulation of operating highlights and balance sheet data follows:

N1204