BioAdvance Invests More Than $3 Million in Seed Funds to Initial Greenhouse Fund Recipients.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2003

-- Former Governor Mark Schweiker and Cephalon, Inc. Chairman & CEO

Frank Baldino, Jr. Join Industry Stakeholders and Public Officials in

Honoring

BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania, today announced the selection of seven recipients of the first round of funding provided by its $20 million Greenhouse Fund (the "Fund"), which invests in commercially-promising technologies in the area of human health. This Fund is the first of several programs BioAdvance is initiating to support life sciences technologies and to stimulate the regional economy.

Mark Schweiker, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and former governor of Pennsylvania, served as keynote speaker for "Breakfast with BioAdvance," which was scheduled today at the Kimmel Center's Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden in Philadelphia. Approximately 200 attendees, including city and state officials and members of the area's business and life science communities, joined executives from BioAdvance in recognizing six local life science companies and one university research project. The projects consisted of one diagnostic, three device and three platform technology projects, each receiving between $300,000 and $500,000.

"We are proud to honor today's recipients, whose technologies represent significant commercial promise and the opportunity for growth in our region," said Barbara Schilberg, managing director and chief executive officer of BioAdvance. "Our region enjoys an abundance of cutting-edge technology and expertise, and we have only begun to tap into this wealth of resources."

"BioAdvance is committed to building a 21st century economy right here at home in Southeastern Pennsylvania," noted ceremony speaker Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Cephalon, Inc., and chairman of BioAdvance. "Funding the development of technology and fueling the entrepreneurial spirit to commercialize innovative products is paramount to this goal."

The Greenhouse Fund was launched in the fall of 2002 to assist emerging life sciences companies and institutions move commercially promising therapeutics, medical devices, and discovery technologies from the laboratory to the stage where venture capital or corporate funding sources become available. Fifty-nine applications were submitted in December 2002 and underwent a rigorous evaluation process by almost 40 independent technical reviewers from around the country, and from advisory panels consisting of research, business development, and venture capital representatives. The applications were evaluated based on technical merit, commercial potential, and intellectual property criteria. The process was designed to have the finalists identified about 4 months after applications are submitted.

"One recipient is an accomplished investigator from the University of Pennsylvania, and of the six companies, two were founded on technology from Drexel University, one from the University of Pennsylvania, one from Thomas Jefferson University, and two were technologies developed by entrepreneurs in the community," added BioAdvance managing director and chief operating officer Gary J. Kurtzman, M.D. "There should be no doubt that innovation in the life sciences is alive and well in Southeastern Pennsylvania."

About BioAdvance

As a critical part of a $2 billion initiative by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to simultaneously support life sciences technologies and stimulate the economy, BioAdvance received $33.8 million from the State's share of the tobacco settlement monies to accelerate the creation of life sciences jobs and businesses in Southeastern Pennsylvania. For information about BioAdvance and the Greenhouse Fund, please visit www.bioadvance.com.

About the Greenhouse Fund Recipients

Automated Blood Typing

-- Donald L. Siegel, Ph.D., M.D., Principal Investigator

-- Robert B. McGrath, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for

Technology Transfer, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Seigel's research laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, is developing a novel class of blood bank testing reagents and an assay platform that will automate the over 1 billion annual typing reactions performed by blood collection facilities, blood banks, and transfusion service laboratories worldwide. BioAdvance funding will support the development of a new class of renewable, inexpensive, high-quality blood bank testing reagents that will function in a rapid, high-throughput, automatable assay system. The Siegel/UPenn patented technologies will be used to clone a panel of phage-displayed antibody reagents specific for clinically-significant red cell antigens from antibody phage display libraries, and using these reagents to develop a novel blood typing platform.

Eagle Vision Pharmaceutical Corporation

-- Philip P. Harnish, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

-- Peter R. Seoane, Ph.D., Vice President of R&D

Eagle Vision Pharmaceutical Corporation is leading the industry in the development of novel agents that enhance the power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of heart disease. The company's proprietary "molecular imaging" yields superior diagnostic information that goes beyond the standard of high quality structural images. Eagle Vision's most advanced program involves the development of EVP 1001-1, the first non-radioactive agent that is specific for cardiac imaging and diagnosis that has the potential to make a noninvasive, cost-effective "one stop shop" MRI cardiac exam a reality. BioAdvance funding will support critical activities needed for initiating the Phase II clinical program for EVP 1001-1, which will evaluate human safety and confirm dose and efficacy in the relevant patient populations.

Gelifex, Inc.

-- Alastair Clemow, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer

Gelifex, Inc. was formed in June 2002 to develop novel implants for use in relieving pain and restoring motion to patients suffering from degenerative disc disease of the lower back. The $1.4 billion U.S. spinal product market is currently associated with devices such as plates, screws and rods that assist or induce fusion of the spine. However, in the future it is expected that surgical alternatives to fusion, such as nucleus replacement products will become more important representing a $600-650 million market opportunity. BioAdvance funding will support the continued development of Gelifex's unique polymer-based nucleus replacement implant system to restore mechanical properties of the disc. The core technology for Gelifex's non-fusion device is licensed from Drexel University.

Integral Molecular

-- Benjamin Doranz, Ph.D., MBA, President and Chief Scientific

Officer

-- Sharon Willis, Ph.D., Senior Scientist

Integral Molecular, an early stage biotechnology company, has a technology that simplifies the discovery of drugs against complex diseases, such as cancer, HIV and arthritis. The company's core technology, the lipoparticle, simplifies the discovery of drugs against integral membrane proteins, a family of biological molecules that comprise greater than 50% of existing drug targets. BioAdvance funding will be used to accelerate proof-of-concept experiments demonstrating utility of the company's lipoparticle technology, and also will be used to strengthen its intellectual property position. Integral's lipoparticle technology is licensed from the University of Pennsylvania.

MacroArray Technologies, Inc.

-- Michael Wassil, Chief Executive Officer

-- Mark Stearns, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer

-- Youji Hu, Ph.D., Vice President of Research

-- Min Wang, Ph.D., Director of Research

MacroArray Technologies, Inc. is an early stage biotechnology company formed to capitalize on the growing need for more efficient and effective technology to rapidly identify and develop novel diagnostic markers and novel therapeutics for a variety of cancers. MacroArray's lead product, PCADM-1, is a urine-based test for prostate cancer that will address the clinical diagnostic market and is intended to replace the PSA blood test. In an initial study of 533 patients, data showed the PCADM-1 had a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 73-100%, compared to the PSA test, which had a sensitivity of 43% and specificity of less than 50%. BioAdvance funding will support the company's nationwide patient trial of approximately 1,200-1,500 patients that compares trial for PCADM-1 against PSA. MacroArray's proprietary technology is licensed from Drexel University.

RetinaPharma Technologies, Inc.

-- Terry Fuller, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer

Founded in 1998 and located in Jenkintown, PA, RetinaPharma Technologies, Inc. is an early stage biotechnology company that is developing products for the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of vision disorders and eye diseases that affect over 19.5 million people in the United States and Western Europe. Its mission is to offer clinically beneficial and incrementally superior pharmaceuticals and related devices based on the company's proprietary technology. Supporting this mission are 13 issued U.S. patents with others pending. BioAdvance funding will support the development of a prototype of the TonoPach(TM), an inexpensive and novel device used to measure intraocular pressure in millions of patients who are improperly diagnosed for glaucoma as a result of disease or LASIK surgery.

Spliceomix, Inc.

-- Tony Giordano, Ph.D., President

-- Albert J. Wong, M.D., Chief Scientific Consultant

Spliceomix, Inc. is developing vaccines and therapeutics for the treatment of multiple cancer types. Most current anti-cancer treatments work by preferentially killing cancer cells, but also alter proteins or processes found in normal cells, which typically result in severe side effects. Spliceomix is targeting the same critical proteins or processes associated with cancer, but adds the step of identifying differences in these proteins or processes that are specific to cancer cells resulting in a better safety profile. This has been demonstrated with the company's first product, SPX-110, a vaccine currently in Phase I clinical trials, which completely prevented tumor formation in mice and to date has been demonstrated to be safe in humans. BioAdvance funding will support its second program, which targets the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein that is essential for supplying blood and nutrients to the tumor thereby allowing its growth. By inhibiting this protein the tumor is starved and dies. Spliceomix's core technology is licensed from Thomas Jefferson University.