Syntrix Biosystems announces the receipt of two Phase I/II Fast-Track Awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop high-specificity fluorogenic probes for use in nucleic acid detection and microarrays

Auburn, WA, June 4, 2004.  Syntrix Biosystems announced today the receipt of two Phase I/II Fast-Track grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $5,000,000 over four years.  The grants were awarded under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and will be used to fund the development of new technologies for high throughput cancer analysis and detection.  The awarded grants will significantly expand work by the company in the field of DNA detection and genomics.

The NIH-supported research will involve (1) the development of novel probe chemistries capable of detecting targets with significantly greater sensitivity and specificity that currently available probes, and (2) the development of built-in sensing technology that results in emission of visible light from the biochip surface upon target capture, and that greatly improves the ease and speed of detection compared to current technologies.  These proprietary methods will be applied to detecting the DNA alterations associated with the early stages of cancer development.

Syntrix Biosystems is a privately held biotechnology company founded in 1999 with research and development facilities located in Auburn, WA.  The company is developing products that meet the needs of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic research markets.  The Syntrix Biosystems website is located at www.syntrixbio.com.  For more information contact:

John A. Zebala, M.D., Ph.D.

President and CEO

jzebala@syntrixbio.com