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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.3

                                  CERTIFICATION
            PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Philip R. Alfano, certify that:

   1.    I have reviewed the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
         December 31, 2002 of Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (the "Annual Report");

   2.    Based on my knowledge, the Annual Report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
         necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
         under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
         to the period covered by the Annual Report;

   3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in the Annual Report, fairly present in all
         material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
         cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented
         in the Annual Report;

   4.    The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant
         and have:

         a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure
               that material information relating to the registrant is made
               known to us by others within the organization, particularly
               during the period in which the Annual Report is being
               prepared;

         b)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to
               the filing date of the Annual Report (the "Evaluation Date");
               and

         c)    presented in the Annual Report our conclusions about the
               effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based
               on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

   5.    The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed,
         based on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors
         and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or
         persons performing the equivalent functions):

         a)    all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
               internal controls which could adversely affect the
               registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
               financial data and have identified for the registrant's
               auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and

         b)    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
               or other employees who have a significant role in the
               registrant's internal controls; and

   6.    The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated in
         the Annual Report whether there were significant changes in internal
         controls or in other factors that could significantly affect
         internal controls subsequent to the date of our most recent
         evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to
         significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

         Dated: March 27, 2003         /s/ Philip R. Alfano
                                       --------------------------------------
                                       Vice President, Finance,
                                       Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer