20/20 Launches Innovative Bio-Terrorism Field Test for 1st Responders.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2003

Five Minute Protein Test Screens for Ricin, Anthrax &

Other Terror Agents Ruling Out More than

80% of Safe Substances

20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. (20/20), a biotechnology company, today announced the launch of a new product to help first responders screen suspicious powders for bioterrorism agents.

The BioCheck(TM) Powder Screening Kit works by quickly identifying the presence or absence of protein, a biomolecule found in all living materials. It therefore provides a rapid screen for the possible presence of multiple bioterrorism agents such as anthrax and ricin toxin, while ruling out most of the ordinary substances that citizens have frequently feared to be possible weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The product requires no instruments and helps first responders determine in five minutes or less whether testing for one or more specific pathogens or toxins is warranted. 20/20's kits are now being sold to fire departments and public safety personnel worldwide for under $25.

Demand for this product is expected to increase in light of announcements last week by senior U.S. law enforcement and health officials about the possible use of ricin toxin, a highly poisonous plant protein, as a terrorist weapon. According to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, U.S. officials were "particularly concerned" about the recent finding of ricin toxin manufacturing equipment in a London apartment of a group associated with al Qaeda that may have operatives the United States.

At the height of the anthrax mailings in late 2001, scientists from 20/20 collaborated with fire officials and HAZMAT crews from Montgomery County Maryland who at the time were overwhelmed with hundreds of "suspicious powder" 911 calls that turned out to be ordinary substances like sugar, drywall dust, cornstarch, etc.

"It became clear from these meetings that there was an urgent need for a primary screening test to help first responders in the field separate ordinary powders from those needing an array of specific agent testing. It was simply not practical to subject every sample to 48 hour laboratory testing nor to conduct a half-dozen specific agent field tests each time a powder was found," said Liz Marcus, 20/20's manager for the product.

For over a year, 20/20 has developed, optimized and refined the BioCheck test kit to make it robust, reliable and readily useable by first responders in a variety of field conditions. Early product evaluation was done by members of the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, who continue to use the product in their investigations.

It was evaluated more than 50 times by HAZMAT teams in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area in response to actual 911 calls resulting from suspicious powders in post offices, on subways, and at organizations such as the IMF.

The kit was effective in ruling out more than 80% of substances that led citizens to call 911 including cornstarch, drywall dust and powdered sugar thereby limiting the number of samples requiring more time consuming and costly specific agent testing.

The product is now a primary screening test used by HAZMAT teams in the District of Columbia and has been incorporated into that department's standard operating procedures (SOPs). About a dozen other departments and agencies throughout the U.S. and overseas are now evaluated or using the product.

"The BioCheck Powder Screen Kit is another presumptive tool that our Hazardous Incident Response Team and Bomb Squad can use at the scene of suspicious powder calls. Though this and other tools we use are not confirmatory, they do serve to help us get a better indication of what we may have. We follow up with laboratory analysis as part of our response protocol," said Ted Jarboe, Deputy Chief of the Division of Fire and Rescue Services, Montgomery County Maryland. Chief Jarboe is a member of the Terrorism Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

In addition to field testing, the BioCheck Powder Screening Kit has been extensively tested using an anthrax simulant by an internationally recognized independent testing laboratory and found to offer comparable sensitivity to other kits on the market designed to specifically test for anthrax. The product has also been tested with actual anthrax bacteria by the Metropolitan Health Research Center in Tokyo, Japan. In ten out of ten tests, anthrax was detected using the 20/20 product.

20/20 GeneSystems plans to announce one or more major distribution relationships in the next few weeks. In the meantime fire departments and public safety professionals can order the product from 20/20 GeneSystems. For more information, call 240/453-6339 or visit the website at www.2020gene.com.

About 20/20 GeneSystems

20/20 GeneSystems was founded in 2000 and is based in Rockville, Maryland. The company develops and markets innovative protein identification products for life science research, diagnostic and homeland security markets.