Aciont Awarded NIH Grant.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

SALT LAKE CITY--(BW HealthWire)--March 25, 2002

Aciont(TM) Inc., a privately held company, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a Phase-I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to assist in the financial development of its non-invasive blood glucose monitor.

The Phase-I grant constitutes a $100,000 payment based on the competitive merit of Aciont's proposal and technology.

"This is an exciting time for Aciont," said Steve Hamilton, Aciont's president and COO. "Our data shows that the technology overcomes many disadvantages of currently available glucose monitoring systems. Aciont's proprietary AC iontophoretic approach increases the precision of glucose extraction.

"This can provide factual data representation to both physicians and patients as the basis for specific drug regimens and accurate treatment protocols. Our technology decreases the number of calibration finger-sticks necessary with presently available devices."

Continuous non-invasive monitoring will be of significant benefit to more than 15 million people with diabetes in the United States. Currently, patients need to obtain blood via finger-stick up to five times daily to monitor their disease. Many do not test as frequently as required because of the associated pain, inconvenience and cost.

Poorly controlled diabetes increases patients' risks of heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness. The consequential direct and indirect costs to the U.S. healthcare system is estimated to be $100 billion annually.

Dr. William I. Higuchi founded Aciont in March 2000, as a result of his long-term research interests in this area of human diagnostics and drug delivery. The company's technology platform is based, significantly in part, on constant conductance AC iontophoresis.

Unlike competing technologies, Aciont's methods avoid changes in skin structure during ongoing treatment allowing more accurate, precise and efficient extraction of an analyte across the skin. Ultimately, this means diabetics will be able to monitor painlessly their blood sugar on a continuous basis while increasing their quality of life.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the current plans and expectations of Aciont Inc. and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future activities and results of operations to be materially different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Aciont assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.