Dragon Receives EPO Product Registration and Signs Licensing Agreement for India.

Business/Health Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 5, 2001

Dragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCBB - DRUG) is pleased to announce that the Drug Controller General of India has issued regulatory clearance for the import and sale of Dragon's recombinant Erythropoietin

EPO is ranked by IMS Health as the world's fastest growing drug by annual sales, with estimated worldwide sales of US$4.8 billion in 2000. India's current market for the use of EPO in the treatment of patients with chronic renal failure alone is estimated at US$55 million.

Dragon is also pleased to announce that it has entered into a marketing and licensing agreement with Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. of Pune, India for the distribution of Dragon's recombinant Erythropoietin (EPO) in India. The agreement provides Emcure, a leading Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer, with rights to distribute EPO in India and throughout the entire South Asian subcontinent, as well as in selected markets in sub-Saharan Africa where Emcure has an established presence and sales force.

Emcure Pharmaceuticals, established in 1983, is a privately held ISO-9002 certified pharmaceutical company with revenues of approximately US$76 million in 2000. Until 1995, Emcure was primarily a contract manufacturer for multinational pharmaceutical companies including Parke Davis, Warner Lambert, and Glaxo SmithKline. In addition to this contract manufacturing business unit, Emcure now also carries its own line of branded products based on its proprietary drug delivery systems. The company's current operations include 5 major manufacturing arms, an R&D center focusing on new drug delivery systems, and an Information Technology (IT) business. Emcure fields over 900 sales representatives throughout India, with distribution centers in all major cities.

The Emcure agreement is an important addition to the international marketing agreements for EPO that Dragon has established with major regional pharmaceutical distributors during this fiscal year. Dragon's EPO licensing agreements cover Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.

About Dragon Pharmaceuticals

Dragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an international biopharmaceutical corporation engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of genetically engineered human proteins for therapeutic use. Based on its proprietary protein expression technology, Dragon believes that it has become one of the world's lowest cost producers of EPO. Dragon is also applying its platform technology to the development of a number of protein drugs, among them a novel, slow-release formulation for EPO. The potential market for slow-release EPO is estimated at US$5 billion per year, with application in the treatment of anemia related to kidney failure and cancer therapy.

Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All statements, other than historical facts, included in the foregoing press release are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, that Dragon believes that it has become one of the world's lowest cost producers of EPO. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions including risks discussed under "Risks Associated With Dragon Pharmaceuticals" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K, SEC File No.: 0-27937, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company does not undertake the obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

For further information, please contact Rita Jervis, VP Corporate Development at Tel: (604) 669-8817 or Fax: (604) 669-4243 or visit our web site at www.dragonbiotech.com