CombiMatrix Receives Contract from the U.S. Air Force for Microarray Pathogen Detection.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq:CBMX)(Nasdaq:ACTG) today announced its CombiMatrix Group has received a one year ($338,000) contract from the U.S. Air Force for the development and production of microarrays to detect pathogens that cause upper respiratory infections and pathogens that infect wounds. This contract is the result of a collaborative effort with the Air Force Institute of Occupational Health (AFIOH) that led to the development of a rapid assay and microarray that identifies all forms (serotypes) of influenza A, including bird flu. The first array to be developed under the new contract will identify a number of upper respiratory infections that can cause potentially life threatening diseases (viral and bacterial pneumonia) or lead to pandemic infections (bird flu and SARS).

Dr. David Danley, Director of Homeland Security and Defense Programs, said, "This contract with the Air Force expands our relationships with the U.S. military and validates the utility of our microarray technology for military applications. We will utilize this contract to build on previous work with influenza detection and develop microarrays with broader application. Subsequent to our development efforts, the AFIOH will purchase arrays for evaluation and use. CombiMatrix will be able to make these arrays available commercially to other users as well."

"Going forward, we hope to continue expanding our work in areas of interest to our military and national security. These programs include our work with the DOD on a broad detection system for pathogens, our early pre-clinical work on compounds to treat acute exposure to radiation, and now this program with the U.S. Air Force," said Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO, of CombiMatrix. "We will continue to monitor the needs of our government as well as corresponding funding opportunities including BioShield."

ABOUT ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

Acacia Research Corporation comprises two operating groups: Acacia Technologies Group and CombiMatrix Group.

The CombiMatrix group is developing a platform technology to rapidly produce customizable arrays, which are semiconductor-based tools for use in identifying and determining the roles of genes, gene mutations and proteins. The CombiMatrix's group's technology has a wide range of potential applications in the areas of genomics, proteomics, biosensors, drug discovery, drug development, diagnostics, combinatorial chemistry, material sciences and nanotechnology.

The Acacia Technologies group develops, acquires, and licenses patented technologies. Acacia controls 33 patent portfolios, which include over 120 U.S. patents, and certain foreign counterparts, covering technologies used in a wide variety of industries including audio/video enhancement & synchronization, broadcast data retrieval, computer memory cache coherency, credit card fraud protection, database management, data encryption & product activation, digital media transmission (DMT(R)), digital video production, dynamic manufacturing modeling, enhanced Internet navigation, high resolution optics, image resolution enhancement, interactive data sharing, interactive television, hearing aid ECS, interstitial Internet advertising, laptop docking station connectivity, microprocessor enhancement, multi-dimensional bar codes, network data storage, resource scheduling, rotational video imaging and spreadsheet automation.

Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies (NASDAQ:ACTG) and Acacia Research-CombiMatrix (NASDAQ:CBMX) are both classes of common stock issued by Acacia Research Corporation and are intended to reflect the performance of the respective operating groups and are not issued by the operating groups.

Information about the Acacia Technologies Group and the CombiMatrix Group is available at www.acaciaresearch.com.

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