BATTELLE ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF INTEGRATED BIOMARKER DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
November 14, 2006

BATTELLE ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF INTEGRATED BIOMARKER DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

New COPD Biomarker Research to Be Featured at 4th Annual Protein Biomarkers Conference

Columbus, Ohio--Battelle, a global leader in contract research and development for the life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, announced the successful completion of key milestones in its biomarker strategic plan. Battelle will launch its integrated biomarker discovery and development services at the 4th annual CHI Protein Biomarkers conference on November 15-16 in Philadelphia. Battelle scientist Dr. Joel Pounds, an invited speaker and member of the conference's distinguished faculty, will present a research study describing novel protein biomarker discovery research for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Dr. Pounds' seminar, "Plasma Protein Biomarker Discovery for COPD Progression Using FTICR-MS Accurate Mass and Time Tag," will describe the success of a joint research project between Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Respiris, a genetics company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The objective of the study was to identify protein biomarkers in plasma that either predict or correlate with the rate of disease progression in patients with COPD. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States with an estimated annual cost of more than $30 billion in healthcare expenditures and indirect costs.

By leveraging state-of-the-art FTICR MS global proteomics capabilities developed at Battelle-managed PNNL, Battelle has built the integrated "Omics" biomarker research and development service capability that will be highlighted at this conference. Dr. Mark Gritz, Vice President, Health and Life Sciences Division of Battelle said, "We are very excited to introduce our integrated biomarker discovery, development, and validation services to new and existing customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device and diagnostic industries. By combining proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics together with intelligent bioinformatics, we will help our customers identify the best biomarkers and accelerate their product development efforts." This program is part of Battelle's strategy to contribute to the improvement of public health through the promise of personalized medicine.

These new biomarker capabilities are synergistic with Battelle's strong expertise in life sciences and drug discovery including disease model development, infectious disease and immunology, toxicology and safety pharmacology services, medical device development, and clinical trial management. Together, these offerings will enable Battelle to provide comprehensive biomarker discovery, development, and validation services for molecular diagnostics and drug development. Battelle also provides a broad range of life sciences research and development services to government and private organizations to improve the public health through the application of science and technology to promote wellness, prevent disease, improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease and advance homeland security.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a DOE Office of Science laboratory that solves complex problems in energy, national security, the environment, and life sciences by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology, and computation. PNNL employs 4,200 staff, has a $750 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965.

Respiris, Inc. is an emerging leader in the discovery and commercialization of biomarkers that are causative for, or associated with, respiratory disease. Respiris leverages sole commercial access to an unmatched biomarker discovery platform based on comprehensive clinical patient registries including biosamples, genetic data, longitudinal medical and disease history, and clinical outcomes data. Over the past 15 years, significant investment and improvements to this platform have been made providing Respiris with initial novel biomarker discoveries and unique product development capabilities unavailable to other early stage companies. Respiris' business model is to enable personalized medicine through commercialization of biomarker discoveries as diagnostic markers, therapeutic targets, and surrogate clinical endpoints.

Battelle is the world's largest independent research and development organization, with 20,000 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including five national laboratories Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle conducts $3.7 billion in R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization. Battelle provides innovative solutions to some of the world's most important problems including global climate change, sustainable energy technologies, high performance materials, next generation healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics, and advanced security solutions for people, infrastructure and the nation. Battelle has a long history of developing successful commercial products in collaboration with its clients, ranging from products to fight diabetes, cancer and heart disease to the development of the office copier machine (Xerox). As a non-profit charitable trust with an eye toward the future, Battelle actively supports and promotes science and math education.

For more information, please email biomarkers@battelle.org or contact April Brys at (410) 306-8513.

For more information about the 4th annual Protein Biomarkers conference, visit http://www.healthtech.com/2006/bmk/index.asp.