Press Release

PROTEIN DISCOVERY, INC. Awarded Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant

Knoxville, TN, July 30, 2003—Protein Discovery, Inc. announced today the receipt of a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant aims to further develop the company’s core biochip technology with a specific emphasis on applications involving high resolution protein separations.

With the sequence of the human genome now complete, researchers engaged in drug discovery have focused on transforming the information provided by the genome into useful drug therapies and diagnostics. The key to this transformation is proteomics – the study of the structure and function of proteins. While the genome provides the code for life, proteins are the entities responsible for interpreting that code, interacting with the environment, and performing the appropriate functions within the body. While many of the essential tools for proteomics have been in place for decades, these tools lack the resolution, reproducibility, and automation required by customers in this industry. The company believes its channel-less microfluidics platform will aid proteomics researchers by providing increased separation resolution, improved speed and reproducibility, and decreased labor requirements.

One important application of this work, when completed, will be to enable life scientists to study, in an automated fashion the expression of abnormal proteins by tumor cells. Thereby the development of therapies that target these abnormal protein markers promises to be greatly accelerated. Protein Discovery wishes to thank the National Science Foundation for its support of this pioneering work.

The SBIR program is sponsored by the Small Business Administration and is intended to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities for small businesses. The National Science Foundation received approximately 1500 Phase I proposals in response to the 2002 SBIR solicitation, of which the agency made 250-300 awards. If successful during the Phase I effort, Protein Discovery will be eligible for a Phase II award that could total approximately $750,000.

About Protein Discovery Protein Discovery is a life sciences company developing turnkey systems for the rapid identification of protein and peptide expression patterns used in clinical research, drug discovery, and diagnostics. The company’s technology addresses key challenges facing protein research today, including the identification of low copy number molecules contained in complex biological samples such as serum. These types of tools are required by clinical researchers to better understand the molecular basis for disease and cost-effectively develop successful diagnostics and pharmaceutical drug treatments. Protein Discovery has received support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Southeast Community Capital Corporation, and Memphis Biomed Ventures I, L.P. The Company is located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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