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Mirari Biosciences Signs Collaboration Agreement With the National Cancer Institute to Use MASC™ Technology to Accelerate Development of Cancer Diagnostics

Rockville, MD – October 17, 2005 - Mirari Biosciences and the National Cancer Institute NCI, Bethesda, MD) signed a Collaboration Agreement to adopt Mirari's Microwave-Accelerated Surface Chemistry (MASC™) technology to accelerate the development of new sensitive antibody-based tests to detect cancer-associated molecules. The collaboration will be led by Drs. Mark T. Martin (Mirari) and Gordon Whiteley (Clinical Proteomics Reference Lab, NCI-Frederick). Under the agreement, Mirari and NCI will work together to pair Mirari's MASC technology with NCI's proprietary cancer tests to accelerate the development of exciting new cancer tests.

MASC technology uses mild microwaves to accelerate and enhance biological testing. Many immunoassays (protein-based tests) and nucleic acid assays (gene-based tests) require many hours to complete. MASC technology shrinks this time by a factor of ten or more. Although microwaves have long been known to accelerate many processes, they are rarely used in biological testing because microwave irradiation is often harsh and incompatible with delicate biological molecules. The invention of MASC technology overcomes this incompatibility through the use of a thin layer of proprietary microwave absorbing material deposited beneath the tests, which allow the user to use very mild microwaves to accelerate testing without harming the biomolecules.