ParAllele Press Release

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Tom Willis, Ph.D.
ParAllele BioScience

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PARALLELE BIOSCIENCE AND BAYLOR SELECTED BY NIH TO BUILD THE "HAPMAP", A NEW PUBLIC GENOME RESOURCE

ParAllele Among Elite Group of Research Teams Awarded $37M Grant

South San Francisco, CA, October 29, 2002 - ParAllele BioScience today announced that the company has been selected, in partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine, by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to participate in the construction of a haplotype map (or "HapMap") of the human genome. ParAllele BioScience and the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center are one of only a few corporate and academic genotyping research teams chosen to share this $37 million grant which supports the initial phase of the International HapMap Project. The $100 million HapMap project represents the next phase in the Human Genome Project and is the first major effort to develop a comprehensive, international public catalog of the genetic variations. The identification of genomic variations among diverse human populations will create a framework for understanding an individual's inherited risks for numerous complex diseases in which multiple genetic mutations cause illness, such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Researchers at Baylor will use ParAllele BioScience's Molecular Inversion Probe(TM) technology to discover the underlying chromosomal segments, or haplotypes, that are shared among the entire human population. ParAllele's technology will allow thousands of genetic markers, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, to be screened in a single laboratory reaction with a single molecular probe per marker. ParAllele's revolutionary approach, called "lab in a tube"(TM), reduces the millions of screening reactions that are typically performed by conventional genetic analysis technologies to a single reaction per individual sample. For the International HapMap Project, ParAllele's Molecular Inversion Probe will produce tens of thousands of individual probes over a two-year period, resulting in tens of millions of genotypes (or genetic markers).

"The goal of studying the human genome has always been to provide health benefits to all humankind," said Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. "This project should be seen in that grand tradition. The HapMap will provide a powerful tool to help us take the next leap toward understanding the most fundamental causes of common illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and mental illness."

"It's a privilege to be able to work with the Baylor College of Medicine on the creation of a valuable public resource for scientists worldwide that will elucidate the important variations of the human genome among individuals. The award of this grant validates our approach and recognizes our rapid progress as a company," said Tom Willis, Ph.D., President and CEO of ParAllele BioScience, whose company was launched only ten months ago.

Dr. Willis continued, "Our selection to participate in the International HapMap Project will establish ParAllele as the leading provider of high-throughput genomic screening technologies and demonstrate the commercial value of our Molecular Inversion Probe assay. ParAllele is addressing the need for a faster, more accurate, more robust and cost-effective technology to screen the many thousands of markers necessary for the construction of the HapMap, as well as for the future development of personalized medicines."

"We are very pleased to continue Baylor's leadership role in the Human Genome Project through our participation in this endeavor. We are impressed by the potential of ParAllele's technology and look forward to collaborating with the company's outstanding scientists on this important project," commented Dr. Richard Gibbs, Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center. "The HapMap will give us a new set of tools that will ultimately allow us to understand how genetic diseases affect the human population."

ParAllele's Molecular Inversion Probe" Technology

ParAllele's Molecular Inversion Probe technology is designed to screen thousands of genetic markers, also known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in a single laboratory test with a single molecular probe per marker. This approach eliminates the need for thousands of individual reactions to be performed, increasing the speed and precision of screening while reducing the amount of DNA sample used and associated costs. The use of a single probe per SNP increases the accuracy of the assay by ensuring that the test only reports information about a known target sequence among the billions of possible sequences found in the human genome.

Uniquely this technology has demonstrated the ability to eliminate the risk of "cross interaction noise," or reports of interactions with other probes or sequences in a multiplexed reaction. In addition, the Molecular Inversion Probe approach streamlines the manufacturing process and represents a new generation of technologies in which assays have been miniaturized to the molecular level.

About the Haplotype Map Project

The DNA sequence of any two people is some 99.9 percent identical. The variations, however, may greatly affect an individual's disease risk. Sites in the DNA sequence where individuals differ at a single DNA base are called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Sets of nearby SNPs on the same chromosome are inherited in blocks. This pattern of SNPs on a block is a haplotype. Blocks may contain a large number of SNPs, but a relatively few SNPs can be enough to uniquely identify a haplotype. The HapMap is a map of these haplotype blocks, including the specific SNPs that identify the haplotypes.

The HapMap will enable researchers to quickly compare a patient's genetic patterns with known patterns, and thus determine if that patient is at risk for particular diseases. In addition, people with the same disease may respond differently to the same drug treatments; the HapMap will enable researchers to examine drug efficacy in specific diseases with genetic patterns. Finally, haplotype mapping will reveal the role of variation in individual responses to environmental factors. (Source: National Human Genome Research Institute)

About ParAllele Bioscience

ParAllele BioScience is developing and commercializing new products and technologies that will accelerate healthcare breakthroughs. By harnessing biochemical processes, ParAllele is creating highly multiplexed, compact, scalable solutions for genetics research. The company's current offerings include solutions for SNP discovery, genotyping, and variation scanning. ParAllele's customers and partners include leading pharmaceutical companies, academic research centers, life science instrumentation companies and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The company was founded by a team of researchers from the Stanford Genome Technology Center and Uppsala University in 2001 and is presently headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Investors in the privately held company include Abingworth Management, Index Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV) and Versant Ventures. For more information about ParAllele, please visit the company's website at: parallelebio.com.

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