OXIS INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES
                             SHARES TO BE LISTED ON
                       LE NOUVEAU MARCHE BY MAY 15, 1997


May 6, 1997 PARIS -- OXIS International, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXIS) announced today
that it has entered into an agreement with its underwriters whereby 10,000,000
shares of the Company's common stock will be listed on the Paris Stock Market,
Le Nouveau Marche no later than on May 15, 1997.  The settlement from the sale
of such shares will close no later than May 20, 1997.  OXIS will be the first
previously listed U.S. NASDAQ company to be also listed on the Le Nouveau
Marche.

The offering proceeds should allow the Company to advance its lead therapeutic
molecule BXT-51072 into Phase II Clinical Trials and initiate preclinical
studies in a second lead molecule, TX-153, a lipid soluble antioxidant.

OXIS International, Inc. is a drug discovery and diagnostics company focused on
the development of novel therapeutic molecules and supportive technologies to
treat diseases associated with damage from free radicals and reactive oxygen
species (ROS), i.e., diseases of oxidative stress. OXIS' lead therapeutic
molecule, BXT-51072, is a glutathione peroxidase mimic that completed Phase I
trials and for which OXIS filed an IND for inflammatory bowel diseases in 1996.
A second advanced molecule, TX-153, is a lipid soluble antioxidant that protects
cell membranes from damage from free radicals and ROS.  OXIS is headquartered in
Portland, Oregon, with a French subsidiary, OXIS International, S.A., located
outside of Paris.

All securities mentioned in this press release have not been registered under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.  The foregoing securities may not be
offered and sold in the United States, absent registration under the Securities
Act or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

Certain of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking
statements that are based on current expectations which involve a number of
uncertainties, including the company's ability to enter the Le Nouveau Marche
stock market and to further advance the Company's products.  The events
described herein may not occur in a timely manner, or at all. Accordingly, the
company's future activities may differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements.