LONDON, July 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Appoints Annette Clancy and Jerry Randall as non-executive directors

Silence Therapeutics plc (London AIM: SLN) ('the Company') today announced changes to its Board of Directors as part of the company's plan for growth.

Effective today, Silence has appointed Annette Clancy and Jerry Randall as non-executive directors and Iain Rugheimer has resigned as a director of the Company.

Annette Clancy is joining the Board in her first non-executive director role. Ms. Clancy (53) is currently with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where she has had a distinguished career spanning 30 years, and will be leaving GSK at the end of the year. She has 15 years experience in Business Development, leading GSK's global Transactions and Alliance Management teams for the past 3 years, and during her tenure she and her team have been responsible for concluding a large number of research, development and commercial business collaborations on behalf of GSK. Prior to her role in Business Development, Ms. Clancy held a number of positions in Clinical Research, R&D project management and Commercialization. Ms. Clancy has a BSc (Hons) Pharmacology from Bath University.

Jerry Randall has been Chief Financial Officer of Sinclair Pharmaceuticals plc since 2000 when he joined as part of a management buy-in team. Prior to this, Mr. Randall worked in corporate finance with Gambit Corporate Finance. Previously, Mr. Randall had been involved in two other buy-ins and acted as adviser to both private and quoted companies between 1993 and 2000, in both the capacity as nominated adviser and in practice with KPMG. During this period, Mr. Randall (43) was involved in a number of flotations and transactions on the Official List, Unlisted Securities Market and the Alternative Investment Market, as well as raising private equity. Mr. Randall qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG in 1990. Mr. Randall has a beneficial interest in 10,000 ordinary shares of Silence Therapeutics plc.

Iain Rugheimer has been on the Board of Silence Therapeutics plc (formerly SR Pharma plc) since 1995, was briefly Chairman of the Group in 2004, and has been Chairman of the Audit Committee for a number of years.

Commenting on the changes, Iain Ross, Chairman, Board of Directors of Silence Therapeutics, commented, "I would like to thank Iain Rugheimer for his contribution over the years and especially for his personal support and advice over the last four years as we have sought to transform the Company. He will be missed and, on behalf of the Board, I wish him every success in the future. I am delighted to take this opportunity to welcome Annette Clancy and Jerry Randall to the Board. Both of them bring a wealth of experience and contacts in the industry and with the Company at such an exciting stage of its development, I am pleased that we have been able to attract two such talented individuals."

Information concerning the new directors: Annette Clancy No current or past directorships. Jeremy Anthony Philip Randall Current Directorships: Sinclair Pharma plc Kinneir Dufort Limited Avantis (UK) Ltd Maggiore Ventures Limited Operation Smile (UK) Limited Past Directorships: Pharmadiligence Limited Crisp Group Limited

There are no other matters to report under schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules in respect of either director.

Notes to Editors:

About Silence Therapeutics plc (http://www.silence-therapeutics.com)

Silence Therapeutics plc (AIM: SLN) is a leading European RNAi focused biotechnology company. RNAi can selectively 'silence' genes linked to the onset of disease. RNAi is a Nobel Prize winning technology and one of the most promising areas of drug discovery and development today.

Silence Therapeutics has developed a platform of novel short interfering RNA ('siRNA') molecules, AtuRNAi, which provide a number of advantages over conventional siRNA molecules, including increased stability against nuclease degradation. In addition, the Company has developed a proprietary systemic delivery system, AtuPLEX. This system enables the functional delivery of siRNA molecules to targeted diseased tissues and cells, while increasing their bioavailability and intracellular uptake.

Silence's lead internal product, Atu027, is a proprietary AtuRNAi molecule in preclinical development for systemic cancer indications. Atu027 has successfully completed single and repeat dose toxicology and geno-toxicology studies, as well as a 28-day toxicology study using multiple dosing regimens. Silence plans a regulatory filing in 2008 to commence clinical trials for Atu027.

In March 2008, Silence Therapeutics announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) focused on the development of a range of novel delivery approaches for siRNA molecules. Under the terms of the agreement both Silence Therapeutics and AstraZeneca will be allowed to commercialize the truly novel delivery systems that the two partners develop together.

In July 2007, Silence Therapeutics formed its first research and development collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop novel AtuRNAi therapeutics against five specific targets, including those in respiratory indications. This collaboration was the first industry validation of the potential application of Silence Therapeutics' proprietary AtuRNAi molecules and solidified the Company's leadership position in field of RNAi therapeutics.

The Company's AtuRNAi technology also has been sublicensed to Pfizer via Quark's license to them of the compound RTP-801i-14 for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and a number of other indications. This compound entered the clinic in early 2007. Silence Therapeutics also has licensed to Quark rights to the AtuRNAi structure for Quark's proprietary compound, AKIi-5, which is in a Phase I human clinical study for treatment of acute kidney injury.

Silence Therapeutics is based in London, UK, and Berlin, Germany, and is listed on AIM.

About RNAi

RNA interference (RNAi), is a Nobel Prize winning technology and one of the most exciting areas of drug discovery today. It represents a completely new approach to selectively 'silence' or inactivate disease relevant genes and as such it has the potential to create a new class of therapeutic products. RNAi could therefore offer a therapeutic approach to a broad range of diseases (cancer, infectious diseases, inherited diseases), many of which have been regarded as incurable and are not addressed by current therapeutics, therefore providing a large market opportunity.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Silence Therapeutics and Silence Therapeutics assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Web site: http://www.silence-therapeutics.com

Jeff Vick, Chief Executive Officer, or Melvyn Davies, Finance Director, both of Silence Therapeutics plc, +44(0)20-7307-1620; or European Contacts: David Dible or Heather Keohane, both of Citigate Dewe Rogerson, +44(0)20-7638-9571; or Nominated Advisers: Chris Collins or Gerard Harper, both of Nomura Code Securities Limited, +44(0)20-7776-1200; or U.S. Contacts: Bryan Murphy, +1-978-745-4200, ext. 105, or Tim Allison, +1-978-745-4200, ext. 102, both of LaVoie Group for Silence Therapeutics plc