SARS RESEARCH BEGINS IN THE MEDICAL CAMPUS

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and ZeptoMetrix Corporation
Collaborate to Develop Detection Kit and Vaccine

BUFFALO, NY, June 12, 2003 - The Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute is partnering with ZeptoMetrix Corporation, a leader in the field of viral diagnostics and detection located on Main Street in Buffalo, NY, and Virionyx Corporation Ltd., a biopharmaceutical development company located in Aukland, New Zealand to develop antibody and antiviral treatments for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

SARS is a respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, which is a relative of the common cold virus. Recently, SARS has emerged as a worldwide threat to human health due to the ease of transmission and modern transportation. There have been over 8,000 reported cases in Europe, Asia, and North America resulting in 745 deaths. One of the major outbreaks in Toronto may have significant impact on the Buffalo Niagara region in terms of risk of infection and negative economic impact.

Currently, there is no way to test for the presence of SARS virus in patients and there is no treatment for this deadly disease. HWI, ZeptoMetrix and Virionyx are combining their resources and expertise to tackle these issues. More specifically, we will attempt to: produce all of the SARS proteins for the purpose of structural study, therapeutic antibody generation, and development of a viral detection kit; solve the structures of the SARS proteins for use in structure-based drug design of antiviral compounds; and understand the mechanisms of viral infection and replication that can be applied to other infectious viruses.

Dr. George DeTitta, Principal Research Scientist, Executive Director & CEO of HWI commented, “This project represents a timely opportunity for Buffalo and the Medical Campus to showcase its strengths in biomedical research. Our hope is to better understand SARS and develop new ways to prevent and treat this deadly virus.”

Over 15 individuals from the three organizations will be participating in this project, they include:

From HWI, Herbert A. Hauptman, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist & President; George T. DeTitta, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer; William L. Duax, Ph.D., H.A. Hauptman Distinguished Scientist; Vivian Cody, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist; L. Wayne Schultz, Ph.D., Research Scientist & Head of Structural Biology Laboratory; Andrew M. Gulick, Ph.D., Research Scientist; Timothy C. Umland, Ph.D., Research Scientist; Yangzhou Wang, Ph.D., Research Scientist; and Carleen M. Pope, M.S., Senior Research Associate.

From ZeptoMetrix, James C.D. Hengst, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer and Michelle T. Ferreri-Jacobia, Ph.D., Manager, Virus Production Laboratories.

From Virionyx, Frank B. Gelder, Ph.D., Founder and Director of Science; Arie Geursen, M.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer; Douglas Wilson, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., Medical Director; Vernon J. Choy, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist and Manager Support Services; and Lisa A. Williams, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist and Head of Cell Biology.

Founded in 1956, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) is an independent, non-profit biomedical research facility specializing in structural biology and the use of x-ray crystallography. The HWI staff consists of over 25 Ph.D. level scientists and 20 technical staff members who are working on over 75 different research projects that involve methods development, disease research, and drug design. The Institute has a proven record of accomplishment in the areas of structural studies including development of methods for crystal structure determination, methods for high throughput robotic protein crystal screening, and methods for cloning and expression of proteins in yeast, bacteria, mammalian or insect cells. The Institute is currently home to the University at Buffalo’s Structural Biology Department and the NASA Institute for Structural Biology.

ZeptoMetrix is a fully integrated biotechnology company located in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in close proximity to Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and Roswell Park Cancer Institute. ZeptoMetrix (formerly Cellular Products, Inc) was one of the first companies to develop FDA approved blood screening kits for HIV and HTLV and is a worldwide expert in the handling of infectious agents. It has status as a small business as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Virionyx Corporation Limited is a biopharmaceutical product development company, based in Auckland, New Zealand. The company is engaged in the development of therapeutics and vaccines against infectious diseases using a proprietary platform technology from which its first therapeutic, PEHRG214, a passive immunotherapy for HIV, was designed. In March 2002, Virionyx completed an FDA approved Phase I clinical trial of PEHRG214 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and in November 2002 Virionyx commenced a multi-dose Phase I/II clinical trial of this product at Harvard Medical School.