Senesco Technologies reports third quarter fiscal 2002 results

New Brunswick, New Jersey
May 14, 2002

Senesco Technologies, Inc. ("Senesco" or the "Company") (OTCBB:SENO) reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2002. The net loss for the third quarter ended March 31, 2002 was $482,820, or $0.05 per share, compared with a net loss of $448,888, or $0.06 per share, for the comparable period in 2001. There were no revenues in either period. At March 31, 2002, Senesco had $3.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Research and development expenses for the third quarter ended March 31, 2002 were $100,949, compared with $120,367 for the comparable period in 2001. The decrease is primarily attributable to a reconciling adjustment made in connection with the Company's R&D agreement with the University of Waterloo and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Overall, operating expenses for the third quarter ended March 31, 2002 were $495,495 compared with $453,919 for the comparable period in 2001. The overall increase resulted primarily from non-cash charges for options and warrants issued by the Company in exchange for consulting and professional services.

"We are pleased with the progress that we made during the quarter," stated Bruce Galton, president and chief executive officer of Senesco. "We made several key appointments to both our Board of Directors and our Scientific Advisory Board that better position us to continue developing our technologies while pursuing our commercialization strategy. We also tapped the equity markets to raise funds to help us continue putting the necessary pieces in place to build an emerging functional genomics company." 

Mr. Galton added, "Most recently, we filed a new patent application related to the possible use of our technology in cancer."

Corporate Highlights

From November 2001 to April 2002, Senesco completed several private placements with accredited investors for aggregate gross proceeds of $6,477,500. In connection with this successful fundraising effort, the Company issued 3,701,430 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 2,744,375 shares of common stock.

In February, Senesco announced that Charles A. Dinarello, M.D. agreed to join the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Dinarello is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the author of more than 500 published research articles. In addition to his active academic research career, Dr. Dinarello has held advisory positions with two branches of the National Institutes of Health and positions on the Board of Governors of both the Weizmann Institute and Ben Gurion University.

Also in February, Senesco announced that Russell L. Jones, Ph.D., joined the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Jones, a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is an expert in plant cell biology and cell death. His expertise in plant physiology led to his appointment as Editor of Planta, Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology and Research Notes in Plant Science. He has held additional positions on the editorial boards of Plant Physiology and Trends in Plant Science.

In March, Senesco announced that David Rector had been elected to its Board of Directors. Mr. Rector brings to the Board more than 20 years of management and executive experience in a wide variety of commercial fields. Mr. Rector's addition increased Board membership to six Directors.

Senesco takes its name from the scientific term for the aging of cells: senescence. The Company has developed technology that regulates the onset of cell death. Delaying cell breakdown in plants extends freshness after harvesting, while increasing crop yields, plant size and resistance to environmental stress for flowers, fruits and vegetables. The Company believes that its technology can be used to develop superior strains of crops without any modification other than delaying natural plant senescence. Senesco has begun to explore ways to trigger or delay cell death in mammals (apoptosis) to determine if the technology is applicable in human medicine. Senesco partners with leading-edge companies and earns research and development fees for applying its gene-regulating platform technology to enhance its partner's products. Senesco is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and has research laboratories at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

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