Woburn, MA (May 14, 2001) - AlphaGene, Inc. has announced today that it has broadened its network of neurological research agreements with leading academic institutions. This newest agreement with Wayne State University seeks to utilize an exciting new surgical approach designed to identify and surgically remove epileptic foci in children and adults with epilepsy. Together with AlphaGene, this collaboration seeks to identify the genes involved in the disease pathways, locate logical points of drug intervention, and develop new therapeutic options in order to provide a better quality of life for patients with epilepsy.

Wayne State University, through Dr. Jeffrey A. Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neurology and The Center for Molecular Medicine & Genetics, has developed technology to identify areas of the brain that produce epileptic seizures. Although many epileptic patients can be controlled by medical treatments, many patients require surgery to reduce or eliminate life-restricting seizures. As a result of such surgery, Wayne State has collected an impressive bank of diseased tissue and is conducting molecular and genetic research that may aid discovery of the molecular basis of epilepsy.

AlphaGene is a biotechnology company engaged in research relating to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The company has a powerful suite of technologies to generate and analyze differential gene expression data. This analysis will be used to identify genes and disease pathways responsible for the development of epilepsy.

Epilepsy and seizures affect approximately 2.3 million Americans of all ages with 181,000 new cases being reported each year. Besides generating an estimated annual cost of $12.5 billion, epilepsy has a high emotional cost and can be devastating to patients and their families. Epilepsy is often associated with developmental delay and brain damage in the approximately 300,000 children under the age of 14 years affected with the disease.

"We are pleased to announce this scientific collaboration with Wayne State University's School of Medicine. Epilepsy is a very serious and destructive disease and Wayne State is in the vanguard of epilepsy research," said Donald J. McCarren, Ph.D., President and CEO of AlphaGene. "We believe that by combining our technologies and expertise, we will gain a better insight into the genetic causes of the disease."

"We are dedicated to making the lives of our epileptic patients better and more productive. A greater understanding of the disease process and causes will certainly move us further in that direction," said Dr. Loeb. "Our collaboration with AlphaGene will help propel us into the forefront of the human functional genomics field and will greatly enhance our ability to understand and treat epilepsy through high quality differential gene expression and genomic technologies."

About AlphaGene

AlphaGene, Inc. (http://www.alphagene.com) is a privately held gene-content functional genomics company offering products and services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies engaged in drug discovery and development. AlphaGene uses its large inventory of full-length cDNAs and Bioinformatics expertise to bridge the gap between genomics and functional proteomics. The company focuses on differential gene expression in degenerative neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases.