Aureon Laboratories to Collaborate with Pfizer, Inc. to Establish Quantitative Biometrics for Assessing Therapeutic Response of Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with Hormone Therapy.

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Aureon Laboratories, Inc. today announced a new phase in a research collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. that shall establish quantitative biometrics for assessing therapeutic response derived from studies focusing on prostate cancer. The collaboration will utilize Aureon's integrated systems pathology approach, whereby data generated from tissue morphometry, multiplexed-protein biomarkers, and in situ RNA expression are integrated with patient clinical information and associated with clinical outcome.

The collaboration is an extension of a previous study performed by Aureon and Pfizer to evaluate prostatectomy samples from patients treated with neo-adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The previous project also demonstrated the technical feasibility of Aureon's platform in quantifying T-cell subtypes in a lymphoid infiltrate and the cellular distribution of cytokines using intact formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens.

Vijay Aggarwal, PhD, CEO and President of Aureon Laboratories said, "We are very excited about collaborating with Pfizer on the next phase of this research project. Aureon's ability to integrate and quantify histological features and cell-type specific molecular biomarkers in intact paraffin-embedded tissue allows a better understanding of the biological context in terms of assessing therapeutic response."

Aureon technology is also being used to develop Prostate Px+, a prognostic, biopsy-based test which can assist men who are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and need more accurate information to guide medical management of the disease. Prostate Px+ will be released in 2008.

About Aureon Laboratories

Aureon Laboratories' mission is to enable personalized patient care through predictive pathology. Aureon has developed a high throughput Systems Pathology technology platform to predict individual clinical outcomes through the interrogation of tissue. The platform generates and analyzes an integrated, digital view of clinical findings, tissue micro-anatomy and tissue molecular pathology to determine which combination of features predicts specified individual clinical outcomes. Allied with major cancer centers, Aureon operates a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory that provides predictive pathology services to the practicing physician. For more information about Aureon, go to www.aureon.com or call 1-888-SYS-PATH.

NOTE: Prostate Px and Px SCORE are registered trademarks of Aureon Laboratories, Inc.