News Release

N.O.L. letter received from Health Canada for Refractory Severe Chronic Pain

Date: December 17 , 2003

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 the receipt of a No Objection Letter (N.O.L.) from Health Canada for initiating the clinical trial of Tectin™ in patients with severe non-malignant chronic pain that is resistant to conventional analgesic therapies.

As mentioned in the News Release dated November 12, 2003, the Company has received an increasing number of requests over the last 3 years from physicians to use Tectin™ to treat refractory chronic non-malignant pain in patients who have failed to respond to currently available therapies. This open-label, multi-centre, long-term multiple-dose trial across Canada at specifically approved centers, is designed to provide access to Tectin™ to these patients, and also to evaluate its safety and efficacy in other target populations.

Each centre must have the protocol approved by their local Research Ethics Committees prior to trial commencement. This process will generally take about two months. However, during the transition period, the Special Access Programme from Health Canada has granted an early release of Tectin™ and patients will become part of the open label trial when authorizations are in place.

International Wex Technologies Inc., a publicly listed neuro-bioscience company (WXI), is focused on the development and commercialization of innovative drug products, primarily for pain management. The Company's lead compound, Tetrodotoxin, a sodium channel blocker, is the platform for the Company's development of a portfolio of proprietary products in the field of analgesia, drug addiction withdrawal treatment, and local anaesthesia.

For additional information on our products, view the Company website at http://www.wextech.ca or call Gordon Stanley at 604-683-8880 or 1-800-722-7549.

Per: John Olthoff, General Manager

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