CONNECT Announces Winners of 2005 Most Innovative New Product Awards; San Diego Technology and Life Science Companies Honored for Their Excellence in Creative Applications and Product Development.

SAN DIEGO -- CONNECT today announced the winners for the 18th Annual Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards, reinforcing the region's reputation as a leader in innovative technologies and creative product development.

The MIP Award winners were selected from more than 80 entries representing a diverse range of companies. Winning products ranged from an RFID system that tracks equipment and people inside buildings to the first non-insulin therapy approved for type 1 diabetes in 80 years. The strength and diversity of these products -- across such a wide range of industries -- continues to demonstrate that San Diego is a national leader in innovation.

The 2005 MIP Award winners are:

Biotechnology R&D

    --  Arena Pharmaceuticals for APD356 -- Currently in Phase 2b
        clinical trials, APD356 is a novel and selective 5-HT2C
        receptor agonist to treat obesity. Currently there are only
        two drugs approved by the FDA for long-term use to treat
        obesity -- both are limited by side effects. It is believed
        APD356 will allow clinically meaningful weight loss without
        serious side effects for the more than two-thirds of Americans
        estimated to be overweight.

Communications Technology

    --  Freescale for Wireless Broadband Signal Processor -- Wireless
        Broadband Signal Processor (WBSP(TM)) is a revolutionary new
        technology specifically developed for multi-mode broadband
        applications. This innovative architecture surpasses
        conventional digital signal processors (DSP) and application-
        specific integrated circuit (ASIC) methods in power
        efficiency, cost (i.e., die size), and performance
        characteristics.

General Technology

    --  DigiVision, Inc. for Video Enhancement Cable -- The DigiVision
        Video Enhancement Cable provides increased detail, clarity,
        local contrast, depth, and realism to standard and HDTV video.
        The initial commercialization of the product concept, which
        contains the DigiVision DV1000 chip, incorporating its
        proprietary V-LACE(TM) real-time, large-kernel, locally
        adaptive contrast enhancement technology, has been in
        collaboration with Belkin Corporation, which brings their
        RazorVision(TM) Cable to the consumer audio/video market,
        where it will cost-effectively allow millions of people to
        dramatically improve their television viewing pleasure.
        DigiVision will also distribute its own Cable into other
        marketplaces and applications such as medical/dental,
        military/homeland security, and industrial, where it will
        simultaneously restore detail in glare and shadows as well.

Hardware

    --  AwarePoint Corporation for AwarePoint Indoor Positioning
        System -- An active RFID system that tracks equipment and
        people inside buildings, the AwarePoint Indoor Positioning
        System consists of wireless receivers, small, battery-powered
        tags, and software. The receivers form a wireless mesh network
        that bridge at one point to the corporate wired network.

Life Sciences -- Medical Devices & Diagnostics

    --  Yulex Corporation for Yulex(TM) -- Yulex Corporation developed
        proprietary technology in breeding, farming, harvesting, and
        processing Guayule, a plant indigenous to the U.S. Southwest,
        to extract and create the first safe natural rubber latex on
        the market, Yulex(TM). Yulex(TM) latex is for use in medical
        and specialty consumer products such as gloves, catheters, and
        condoms. It is naturally free of the dangerous proteins that
        cause tropical latex allergy, which has become a major health
        and safety issue for health-care workers and patients. It is
        also a cost-effective and renewable alternative to synthetic
        latex products and is superior in performance to both
        synthetic and imported natural rubber latex.

Life Sciences -- Therapeutics

    --  Amylin Pharmaceuticals for SYMLIN -- SYMLIN(R) (pramlintide
        acetate) injection, approved by the FDA in March 2005, is the
        first non-insulin therapy to be approved for type 1 diabetes
        in 80 years.

        SYMLIN, a self-administered injection for diabetics taking
        insulin treatment, is taken prior to meals to help achieve
        lower blood glucose, leading to less fluctuation during the
        day and to better long-term glucose control compared with
        patients taking insulin alone.

Security Technology

    --  Pixon LLC for PixonVision PV-200 -- The PixonVision PV-200 is
        a real-time video processor jointly developed by Pixon LLC and
        DigiVision, Inc. The Quick Pixon processor boosts video
        resolution by up to 2 times and decreases noise by up to 6
        times, while DigiVision's contrast enhancement processor
        increases local contrast by up to 8 times.

Software

    --  Veoh Networks, Inc. for Veoh -- Veoh is the first Internet
        television peercasting network taking advantage of broadband
        Internet connections to deliver TV-grade video programming
        directly from producers to consumers. Veoh allows anyone with
        a PC/Mac and a broadband Internet connection to broadcast a
        television show, or a channel full of shows, and allows
        consumers to easily find video programming on the Internet.

In addition to celebrating the most innovative new products of the year, CONNECT also features the DLA Piper Award for Technology Innovation and the Bill Otterson Award.

The DLA Piper Award recognizes individuals in San Diego who, through business activities and community involvement, have encouraged innovation and diversity of thought, thereby supporting the advancement of San Diego entrepreneurs. This year, the award went to Bill Carpenter, who has supported successful innovation in the San Diego entrepreneurial community through his highly engaged board service to CommNexus, the Chairman's Roundtable, San Diego Tech Coast Angels, CONNECT's Springboard program, and a number of diverse technology startups.

In memory of CONNECT's first Executive Director, Bill Otterson, the Bill Otterson Award recognizes San Diego-based companies whose product has demonstrated a significant positive impact on society or on our quality of life. The Award has been presented three times, first in 2001 to QUALCOMM for CDMA, again in 2002 to IDEC Pharmaceuticals for Rituxan, a drug to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and most recently in 2004 to Pfizer (Agouron Pharmaceuticals) for Viracept, an antiretroviral drug to treat HIV. This year, the Bill Otterson Award went to Fair Isaac for its contributions to fraud prevention based on Falcon, a program initially developed by the three-time MIP winner HNC Software, Inc.

The winners were announced December 9th at the MIP Awards Luncheon held at the Hilton Torrey Pines Hotel. Over 750 of San Diego's top executives, entrepreneurs, service providers, and academics attended this year's awards luncheon.

"CONNECT appreciates the continued support of the San Diego community, as we honor these innovative products and companies that continue to fuel San Diego's economy and establish the region as a national leader in technology and life sciences," said Duane Roth, chief executive officer of CONNECT. "For the last 18 years, the MIP awards have had the privilege of highlighting the importance of emerging technologies and their impact on the San Diego region and beyond."

Since 1988, the CONNECT MIP Awards program has served as a benchmark for predicting the region's most successful emerging technologies. From early stage biotechnology companies to the first products generated by the region's telecommunications boom, the awards program has been an indicator of the industries and technologies that have stimulated the San Diego economy.

About CONNECT

CONNECT is a technology business accelerator, originally founded by the University of California, San Diego, dedicated to the creation and sustained growth of innovative, science-based companies whose development will contribute to the prosperity and global position of the San Diego region. Focused on assisting growth companies in the San Diego region, CONNECT has been directly involved with over 900 companies since its inception in 1985, helping them raise over $11B in capital. CONNECT's programs also help business service providers, attorneys, accountants, bankers, investors, and marketing professionals with the knowledge about emerging technologies and access to new business opportunities. CONNECT is entirely self-supporting and receives no funding from the University or the State of California. It is supported by membership dues, course fees, and corporate underwriting for specific programs. For more information, visit www.connect.org.