CURATED DATA COVERS OVER 2,000 HUMAN GENES.

LifeSpan BioSciences, Inc., Seattle, a leader in the emerging fields of molecular pathology and tissue proteomics, has launched its subscription DrugTarget Database, the first comprehensive resource on the expression and localization of proteins at the cellular level. The database combines proprietary immunohistochemistry data, obtained by using specific antibodies to determine protein localization in normal and diseased human tissues, with manually curated data covering more than 2,000 human genes from eight gene families. These gene families, which include G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, kinases, nuclear receptors, phosphatases, phosphodiesterases, transporters, and proteases, contain the genes of greatest interest to the pharmaceutical industry as new drug targets.

"The ability to associate specific proteins with disease and to localize those proteins within tissues at the cellular level, is of critical importance for identifying and validating drug targets," said Joseph Brown, Ph.D., LifeSpan BioSciences' president and chief executive officer. "It is extremely valuable for selecting disease indications for new or existing drugs, and providing early warning about potential toxicity. Many drug targets are expressed in only a limited number of normal and diseased tissues, and their expression profiles may account for the pharmacological specificity of their ligands."

LifeSpan has compiled its detailed protein expression and localization information in an easy-to-search relational database, which includes thousands of high-resolution digital photomicrographs of immunostained tissue specimens from the industry's largest bank of diseased and normal tissue specimens. Each photomicrograph is accompanied by written analysis from a Board-Certified Pathologist. The curated public data included in the database contain information on protein and nucleic acid sequences, expressed sequence tags, clones, publications and patents. LifeSpan's data analysts extract key information regarding tissue and cell-specific expression, disease associations, functional associations, and analytical methods, and provide links to other data resources. Information for each gene is summarized on a single page, providing fast, easy access and viewing over a secure Internet connection using a simple web browser interface.

Subscriptions to the database involve a yearly fee, with a minimum three-year commitment. Subscribers receive data in real-time as it becomes available throughout the development period, which is expected to last three years. Each subscriber will have the opportunity to prioritize 100 genes for analysis and inclusion in the database. Up to 20 of those genes may be selected from outside the eight gene families specifically targeted for inclusion. Subscribers will access all data without any downstream royalties or licensing fees tied to discovery.

"While DNA microarrays and high-throughput sequence analyses provide information on mRNA expression at the whole tissue level, they cannot detect gene expression in individual cell types or structures," said Glenna Burmer, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of LifeSpan BioSciences. "In contrast, immunohistochemistry uses specific antibodies to provide information on protein expression, including which cell types express the protein. Immunohistochemistry also provides information about where in the cell the protein is expressed, thus giving insight into gene function. Finally, immunohistochemistry allows us to correlate protein expression with pathology at the microscopic level, to determine whether diseased cells express the protein. For these reasons, we believe the LifeSpan DrugTarget database represents an important next-generation resource for helping pharmaceutical researchers decide the complex relationships between genes, proteins and disease."

About LifeSpan BioSciences, Inc.

LifeSpan BioSciences, headquartered in Seattle, Wash., is a privately held genomics company founded in 1995 that utilizes proprietary molecular pathology and bioinformatics technology to profile and localize gene expression in normal and diseased human tissues for its more than 50 pharmaceutical company customers in Europe, Asia and North America. LifeSpan is currently applying its technology and expertise to the production of a comprehensive atlas on the expression of each of the 30,000 human genes in both normal and diseased tissues.

For more information, call 206/464-1554 or visit http://www.lsbio.com.