PLASMA PROTEOME INSTITUTE

FORMED IN WASHINGTON DC

Washington, DC, August 6, 2002 – Creation of the Plasma Proteome Institute (PPI) was announced today in Washington, DC by Dr. Leigh Anderson, its founder and CEO. The non-profit Institute aims to enable major advances in disease diagnosis using results from the expanding field of proteomics combined with new technologies for the analysis of proteins in blood.

“New technologies exist for discovering and measuring hundreds of disease-related proteins in standard doctor’s-office blood samples, yet the translation of these possibilities into new life-saving diagnostic tests remains painfully slow”, noted Dr. Anderson. “The early and correct diagnosis of disease is a critically important component of medicine, one that helps patients receive the right treatment and helps the pharmaceutical industry develop the best drugs. Through PPI we hope to bring together the knowledge, technologies and people to produce a needed revolution in disease diagnosis”.

Initial goals of PPI are to:

• Promote the comprehensive analysis of the human plasma proteome, and related tissue proteomes,
• Consolidate and document current knowledge of plasma proteome components,
• Identify technical barriers impeding plasma proteome research, and foster work to overcome them, and
• Advance the understanding and clinical use of multi-protein diagnostic panels.

Dr. Leigh Anderson is joined in the founding of PPI by Dr. Norman G. Anderson, who will serve as a Senior Scientific Advisor to the Institute. The Andersons together undertook the first systematic “proteomics” investigations of human plasma by 2-D electrophoresis in 1977. Prior to founding PPI, the Andersons held senior management positions at Large Scale Biology Corporation (Nasdaq: LSBC), whose proteomics division they founded in 1985. At LSBC, they developed the first large-scale automated 2-D electrophoresis technology platform for proteomics research, and pioneered a range of proteomics applications in drug discovery, toxicology and plasma protein surrogate markers.

About the Plasma Proteome Institute

The Plasma Proteome Institute (PPI) is a private non-profit institution located in Washington DC. PPI is working to promote the exploration and diagnostic use of the plasma proteome as a means to better detect, understand and treat disease. PPI cooperates with researchers, institutions and companies interested in pursuit of plasma proteome science.