Centrex, Inc. Names New Chief Executive Officer; Former Nasdaq CEO Accepts Position as CEO & Director.

Business Editors

TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003

Centrex, Inc. (OTCBB:CNEX) today announced that Jack J. Luchese has been appointed CEO and Director effective March 1, 2003. He will replace Dr. Thomas R. Coughlin, Jr., the current CEO, who will remain with the Company as a technical advisor. Mr. Luchese brings over 30 years experience with international and domestic companies. He has served in various executive staff and line capacities with Johnson and Johnson, the Rorer Group, Inc., and was the VP and General Manager of Armour Pharmaceutical Company, an international biologicals manufacturer. In addition to his pending appointment to the Centrex Board, Mr. Luchese is currently on the Board of Directors of Angiogene, Inc., a medical device company headquartered in Montreal, where he also serves as the Chairman of its Audit Committee.

Mr. Luchese has more than 13 years of public company experience as a CEO, most recently with CytRx Corporation (Nasdaq:CYTR) from 1989 to 2002. He was initially recruited by the Board of CytRx into a high-risk position to rescue the Company from insolvency. Mr. Luchese was able to quickly raise capital and streamline the organization. Within 13 months he secured and executed a significant licensing & development agreement with Glaxo-Wellcome that established the foundation to finance and expand the business of CytRx. He later secured technology partnerships with Merck & Co., American Home Corporation, VetLife and Vical.

"Mr Luchese's strong financial knowledge coupled with his negotiating, operating and management skills make him an ideal candidate to lead Centrex to the next level," said Dr. Thomas Coughlin, Jr., current Centrex CEO. Dr. Coughlin further stated that "Jack is experienced in managing multiple development activities and programs and has an outstanding grasp of public financings, the investment community and how it relates to public companies. He is accustomed to working in a business environment that is highly dependent on the capital markets and intellectual property."

Mr. Luchese stated, "I am very excited about this project because Centrex has the high tech value of a biotech company without the long development time lines and intensive capital requirements. Centrex's laser-based technology has broad application potentials that extend beyond the bio-terrorism market into many other commercial markets that require rapid detection of harmful organisms. With Los Alamos National Laboratory developing the prototype, Centrex has the commitment and support of some of the finest laser and biology talent anywhere in the world."

Centrex represents a timely and much needed opportunity. As reported on the front page of The New York Times (Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003), "To help protect against the threat of bioterrorism, the Bush administration on Wednesday will start deploying a national system of environmental monitors that is intended to tell within 24 hours whether anthrax, smallpox and other deadly germs have been released into the air, senior administration officials said today." The article continued, stating that "While environmental monitoring does not provide instant detection.... Doctors and terrorism experts have long said that the lack of such a system is one of the most glaring deficiencies in the nation's biodefenses."

Centrex, Inc., is a development stage company organized in 1998 to identify and commercialize proprietary systems for the detection of biological contaminants in food, air and water. Centrex, Inc. has licensed worldwide rights to all applications of the Single Molecule Detection technology (SMD) currently being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This technology, one of many emanating from LANL's high tech research, has the potential to provide specific, accurate and very rapid detection of harmful organisms in air, food, blood and water as well as having other potential applications in DNA and RNA analysis. The initial focus of the Los Alamos program is to complete the prototype for an advanced automated detection system for use in the rapid detection of bio-terrorism pathogens such as anthrax, smallpox, plague and other deadly organisms. This initial phase of development is intended to produce a prototype that could be useful in biodefense applications both in the military and civilian sectors internationally. Additionally, the device could be employed commercially in enclosed environments such as mail and parcel delivery service facilities, airplanes, mass transportation centers, and in monitoring the air quality of commercial office buildings.

For more information, visit the Centrex Web site at www.centrexcorporation.com or call Investor Relations at Madison & Wall Worldwide, Inc.: 407/682-2001.

This press release contains some forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect our business. Those uncertainties are discussed in the Company's SEC filings.