IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Atto Bioscience Awarded $600,000 DARPA Project to Develop Olfactory Receptor-Based Biosensors

Rockville, MD - Atto Bioscience announced today that it has received a $600,000- award from the Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) to apply its proprietary automated confocal imaging platform (Pathway HT), and expertise in high-throughput cloning, protein expression and genome engineering to develop olfactory receptor-based biosensors for real-time detection of agents of interest to the Department of Defense. The program, a collaborative effort with Dr. D. Dhanasekaran at Temple University, extends initial feasibility studies demonstrating the ability to identify chimeric receptors capable of recognizing chemical agonists when linked to signaling pathways in heterologous organisms.

Dr. Derek Woods, president and CEO commented, "We are honored and excited to be collaborating with Dr Dhanesekaran's group to combine their expertise in G-protein coupled receptors with the molecular, cellular and bioimaging capabilities resident at Atto toward the development of this broadly useful platform. Beyond the anticipated role in the rapid detection of a variety of biothreats, the resulting technologies will likely have numerous applications in commercial and research areas including drug screening, gene function analysis and assay development. The program exemplifies Atto's strategy to establish high-value partnerships with key academic, biotech, and pharmaceutical organizations to leverage the companies' bioimaging and assay development capabilities into new arenas."

In addition to Atto's proprietary imaging platforms, the program will apply a novel high-throughput cloning technology co-invented by the program's principal investigator, Dr. Michael Brasch, "The next generation Gateway Cloning Technology that will be utilized in this program will allow us to rapidly generate genetic constructs that contain numerous genes encoding receptors and pathways of interest. The unprecedented speed and flexibility provided by this approach enables rapid assembly and optimization of each gene such that the number of functional receptor complexes, and hence the sensitivity, can be maximized. The strategies developed as part of this program will have immediate application to Atto's objective of developing novel cell lines for assays and gene function analysis. We acknowledge and are grateful to the Invitrogen Corporation for allowing us access to this technology and the continued collaborative efforts for its improvement" added Brasch, Director of Molecular Biology and Functional Genomics.

About Atto Bioscience, Inc.

Atto Bioscience, Inc. is a fully integrated life science company applying proprietary single cell imaging and assay technologies to accelerate pharmaceutical drug discovery/development, toxicology, diagnostics, and functional genomics. Atto brings together several core capabilities including real-time confocal 3D live-cell imaging, kinetic single cell monitoring, software design, novel assay development, automation and manufacturing. Founded in 1985, Atto Bioscience, formerly Atto Instruments, is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. Additional information is available through www.atto.com or (301) 340-7320.

Media Contact:

Philip G. Vanek
Director, Corporate Development
Atto Bioscience

Gateway is a registered trademark of Invitrogen, Corporation, Carlsbad, CA.