ID Biomedical closes sale and leaseback transactions VANCOUVER, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ID Biomedical Corporation (TSX: IDB; NASDAQ: IDBE) announced today that it has closed the transactions with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) for the sale and leaseback of two ID Biomedical facilities: the newly constructed Vaccine Research Centre in Laval, Quebec, Canada; and a vaccine development facility in Northborough, Massachusetts, U.S. The total purchase price paid at closing to ID Biomedical is approximately CAD $50 million. All conditions precedent to these transactions have now been satisfied. ID Biomedical will lease each of these properties from Alexandria for a period of 15 years. In addition, at each site ID Biomedical has secured three, five-year options to extend the leases beyond the original term, meaning the Company has the option of maintaining its business operations at each facility for up to 30 years. About ID Biomedical ID Biomedical is an integrated biotechnology company dedicated to the development of innovative vaccine products. It operates in research, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing from its facilities in Canada and in the United States. ID Biomedical is dedicated to becoming a premier vaccine company with significant marketed products worldwide and an extensive pipeline in both clinical and preclinical development. ID Biomedical has a leading position in the Canadian influenza market. It received a ten-year mandate from the Government of Canada in 2001 to assure a state of readiness in the case of an influenza pandemic and provide influenza vaccine for all Canadians in such an event. It also currently supplies approximately 75% of the Canadian government's influenza vaccine purchases. For further information on ID Biomedical, please visit the Company's website at http://www.idbiomedical.com/. About Alexandria Real Estate Equities Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. is the pre-eminent real estate investment trust focused principally on the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, expansion and redevelopment and selective development of properties containing office/laboratory space. Alexandria has an outstanding track record for almost eight-years as an NYSE listed company with a total market capitalization as of December 31, 2004 of US$2.85 billion. Alexandria provides high-quality laboratory facilities, services and capital to the broad and diverse life science sector. Alexandria's national operating platform is based on the principle of "clustering" with assets and operations strategically located in key life science hub markets. The information in this news release contains so-called "forward-looking" statements. These include statements regarding ID Biomedical's expectations and plans relating to the integration of the vaccine business acquired from Shire, statements about ID Biomedical's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for the future, which may be indicated by words or phrases such as "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "we believe", "ID Biomedical believes", "management believes", and similar language. All forward-looking statements are based on ID Biomedical's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties and to assumptions made. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include: (i) the company's ability to successfully integrate the Shire vaccine business; (ii) the company's ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of its products; (iii) the company's ability to manufacture its products; (iv) the seasonality of the flu-vaccine business and related fluctuations in the company's revenues from quarter to quarter; (v) decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by the health regulatory agencies regarding approval of its products for human testing; (vi) the company's ability to enter into distribution agreements for its products, and to complete and maintain corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of its technology and products; (vii) market acceptance of its technologies and products; and (viii) the competitive environment and impact of technological change and other risks detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ID Biomedical bases its forward-looking statements on information currently available to it, and assumes no obligation to update them. For further information, please contact: Investor Relations / Media Dean Linden (604) 431-9314 Michele Roy (450) 978-6313 DATASOURCE: ID Biomedical Corporation CONTACT: Investor Relations/Media, Dean Linden, (604) 431-9314, ; Michele Roy, (450) 978-6313, ; To request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca/ and click on reports@cnw.

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