News Release

Clinical Phase I Trials start in China

Date: Jul 24, 2002

TSX Venture Exchange Trading Symbol: WXI
http://www.wextech.ca
E-mail: wex@wextech.ca

International Wex Technologies Inc. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that Phase I clinical trials officially started in Beijing, China on July 23, 2002 on our lead product for intractable pain.

This study will be on healthy volunteers and will follow the Good Clinical Practice (GPC) of the State Drug Administration's (SDA) revised standards set subsequent to China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The Beijing Hospital where the clinical trials have commenced is one of the two SDA designated sites for pain management throughout the country. This hospital has also performed clinical trials for other international pharmaceutical companies. The trial itself will be of short duration.

"The Company", says Donna Shum, COO, 'has been waiting for this major milestone with great anticipation. This now opens the second country for our clinical trials. The first trials were conducted in Canada for cancer pain and opiate withdrawal treatment, now we add China for pain management. Because of a larger pool of patients in China it is felt that clinical trials will progress very rapidly."

In the area of neuro-bioscience, the Company is focusing on the fields of pain management, drug addiction treatment and anaesthesia. The Company is developing products that contain a sodium channel blocking compound and derivatives extracted from natural organic substance using its proprietary manufacturing technology.

For additional information on our products, view the Company website at http://www.wextech.ca or call Howard Milne, V.P. Corporate Communications, at 604-683-8880 or 1-800-722-7549.

Per: Donna Shum, Corporate Secretary

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