PROTEIN POLYMER TO PRESENT AT TECHVEST’S 4th ANNUAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCE

SAN DIEGO, October 17, 2002 -- Protein Polymer Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PPTI), today announced that J. Thomas Parmeter, President and CEO, will present a Company update at the Techvest 4th Annual Healthcare Conference.

In his presentation, Mr. Parmeter will focus on PPTI’s progress in the development and testing of its injectable silk-elastin polymer formulations for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence and for the treatment of dermal contour deficiencies (facial lines, wrinkles, and scars). He will also comment on developments in PPTI’s tissue adhesive program, including preclinical testing of a unique product for Spinal disc repair, and in vitro studies of new surgical sealants and adhesives. Both of the tissue augmentation products are in FDA-approved clinical trials.

The Techvest Healthcare Conference, to be held October 22nd–24th in Boston, brings together investors in biotechnology including venture capitalists, portfolio managers, financial analysts, and investment bankers with more than 140 U.S. biotech  and biomedical companies. PPTI has presented at each of the three previous Techvest healthcare conferences.

“We look forward to introducing PPTI, its technology and products, to the financial community. We believe that a number of factors are making our products in development commercially attractive,” said J. Thomas Parmeter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Protein Polymer Technologies, Inc. “The combination of population demographics and increased demand for improving one’s appearance are rapidly expanding the markets for treatment of incontinence and for dermal contour corrections worldwide. Physicians continue to seek safe, effective, and more durable treatments in response to patient demand. These products are an ideal fit with our goal of providing new classes of high performance bioactive devices designed, through genetic and protein engineering, to meet present and future needs in tissue repair and regeneration.”

Protein Polymer Technologies, Inc. (PPTI) is a San Diego–based company focused on developing products to improve medical and surgical outcomes. From its inception in 1988, PPTI has been a pioneer in protein polymer design and synthesis, developing an extensive portfolio of proprietary biomaterials. These genetically engineered biomaterials are high molecular weight proteins, processed into products with physical and biological characteristics tailored to specific clinical performance requirements. Targeted products in addition to its dermal contouring product and urethral bulking agent for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, are tissue adhesive and sealant formulations for the repair of Spinal disks and other surgical applications, scaffolds for wound healing and tissue engineering, and depots for local drug delivery. To date, PPTI has been issued twenty-four U.S. Patents on its core technology with corresponding issued and pending patents in key international markets.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s views and expectations. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed here; further, the Company is not obligated to comment specifically on those differences. Risks associated with the Company’s activities include scientific and product development uncertainties, competitive products and approaches, continuing collaborative partnership interest and funding, regulatory testing and approvals, and manufacturing scale-up. The reader is encouraged to refer to the Company’s 2001 Annual Report and 10-KSB, and recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available from the Company, to further ascertain the risks associated with the above statements.

CONTACTS:

J. Thomas Parmeter
President

Janis Y. Neves
Director of Finance & Administration

(858) 558-6064         info@ppti.com