Half Year Trading Update

For immediate release 22 January 2013

ABCAM PLC

("Abcam" or "the Company")

Half Year Trading Update

Cambridge, UK: Abcam plc (AIM: ABC), a global leader in the supply of protein research tools, announces the following trading update ahead of its results for the six months ended 31 December 2012.

Our business has performed well despite the continued pressures on centrally funded research budgets. In the US, which is our largest market, the postponement of a federal decision on future levels of research expenditure until the end of next month means that the uncertainty and its impact on our revenue growth will continue.

Nevertheless we expect to report revenue growth in the period of approximately 28%, or 30% on a constant currency basis, which, taking into account the unaudited revenues of Epitomics and Ascent for the same period last year, represents underlying growth at constant currency of just over 12%.

At 31 December 2012 our catalogue comprised 102,288 products, a 25% increase on 31 December 2011. It is particularly pleasing that the catalogue now includes over 4,100 rabbit monoclonal antibodies ("RabMAbs®"), sales of which are encouraging.

The integration of the Epitomics business is proceeding well, with almost two-thirds of all RabMAb® catalogue sales now being fulfilled through the Abcam platform. We plan to continue extending the range of RabMAbs® whilst building awareness of their capabilities and their attractiveness to the research community.

The positive impact of the addition of the Epitomics business means that gross margins for the six month period are expected to have increased over those reported for the comparable period. Tight cost control remains a feature of the business together with targeted investments aimed at the delivery of future growth.

The Company will report its interim results for the period in early March 2013.

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About Abcam plc

Abcam is a producer and distributor of high quality protein research tools. These tools enable life scientists to analyse components of living cells at the molecular level, which is essential in understanding health and disease.

Headquartered in Cambridge (UK), Abcam has subsidiary offices in Bristol (UK), Cambridge, MA (USA), Eugene, OR (USA), San Francisco, CA (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Hangzhou and Hong Kong (both in China), allowing it to serve a global customer base in over 130 countries. Abcam employs over 680 staff across its eight operating companies.

 At 31 December 2012 Abcam had an online catalogue of over 102,000 products sourced from more than 400 suppliers. The catalogue includes a growing range of non-primary antibody products such as secondaries, proteins, peptides, lysates, immunoassays and other kits. Products are available for life science research and distributed to academic and commercial users. A highly developed eCommerce platform, which includes regional websites for the Chinese and Japanese markets, allows customers to access up-to-date and detailed technical product data sheets at the Company's website, www.abcam.com.

Abcam was admitted to AIM in November 2005 and trades under the ticker symbol ABC. The Company's vision is to be the world's leading life science reagents company.