Arcaris Receives Patents for Novel Target Identification Systems.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SALT LAKE CITY--(BW HealthWire)--April 19, 2000

Arcaris Inc. Wednesday announced that it has been granted its third patent related to its suite of technologies for novel target identification and validation.

U.S. Patent No. 6,025,485 entitled "Methods and Compositions for Peptide Libraries displayed on Light-Emitting Scaffolds" relates to the use of fluorescent proteins as scaffolds for peptide probes (Perturbagens(TM)) that Arcaris employs in target identification and validation procedures.

Arcaris was recently granted two other U.S. patents related to this suite of technologies, U.S. Patent No. 5,955,275, entitled "Methods for Identifying Nucleic Acid Sequences Encoding Agents that Affect Cellular Phenotypes," and U.S. Patent No. 5,998,136, entitled "Selection Systems and Methods for Identifying Genes and Gene Products Involved in Cell Proliferation."

The '275 Patent covers a variety of methods for rapidly and efficiently identifying agents that alter a cellular phenotype -- i.e., the function or appearance of a cell that can be correlated with various disease states. The '136 Patent relates to Arcaris' use of Perturbagen(TM) phenotypic probes to identify genes, nucleic acids or proteins that are involved in growth control pathways.

Dr. Alexander Kamb, the company's scientific founder and chief scientific officer is an inventor on all three patents. Majid Abedi, a scientist at the company, is a co-inventor on the '485 Patent.

"The issuance of these patents strengthens our technology base and puts Arcaris in a dominant position in the area of function-based fluorescent bioassays," commented M. Scott Salka, Arcaris' president and chief executive officer. "We are particularly excited about the number of potential targets we have identified for the treatment of metastatic cancers using our proprietary discovery technologies."

Together, these three patents provide Arcaris with proprietary tools for rapidly and efficiently identifying novel targets and validating these targets at the physiological level. Arcaris uses cell-based disease models to discover novel targets that can be treated with small molecules to 'cure' the disease state.

These novel targets serve as the basis for efficiently designing new drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, viral infections, diabetes, and immune disorders.

Arcaris is a function-oriented genomics company that utilizes powerful new genetic technologies to discover drug targets.

Using its proprietary Perturbagen(TM) libraries (the biological equivalent of combinatorial chemical libraries), together with its cell-based disease models and high-throughput screening technologies, Arcaris can bypass the biological complexities that hamper conventional target discovery efforts.

Arcaris' target discovery approach is designed to identify small molecule drugs, and can also be applied to identify therapeutic proteins. The company's initial focus for target identification and drug discovery is cancer, infectious diseases, and certain metabolic disorders, including diabetes. Arcaris is a privately-held company located in Salt Lake City.

This release contains forward-looking statements. All statements released by Arcaris Inc. that are forward-looking are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Security Litigations Reform act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties that may affect the company's business prospects and performance.