DARIEN, January 24, 2002 - - Eprogen, Inc. has made a significant advance in the field of proteomics research through its introduction of ProteoSep products and services. It is a new and powerful protein separation technology designed to more easily characterize and "map" complex protein mixtures. ProteoSep is an all-liquid phase alternative to 1D and 2D gels that produces high-resolution maps of such complex protein mixtures as whole cell lysates, tissue, and sera. This HPLC-based technique provides for easy collection of liquid fractions, making it a perfect complement to Mass Spec and automation. In addition, these fractions will contain intact proteins, allowing scientists the ability to more easily study post-translational modifications. Direct analysis of intact proteins allows for the retention of important biological information that is lost using existing peptide analysis techniques. Users of the ProteoSep technique achieve significant "workflow" benefits in a high-throughput analysis environment. The increased speed and reliability of the ProteoSep technology provides considerable benefits to those involved in screening potential new drug candidates and evaluating new approaches to disease therapy.

Eprogen's ProteoVue ™ Software is used to produce both one and two dimensional maps of expressed proteins. The software displays the proteins present in an easy to read format familiar to biological researchers. This integral feature of the software gives scientists the power to more effectively study proteins present in multiple samples and, along with the benefit of liquid fractions, judiciously choose proteins of particular interest for further analysis.

With the completion of the various genomic maps and the advent of MS for protein identification, complex protein characterization has become a critically important element of any new drug development effort, diagnostic and therapeutic. New analytical tools are now essential to match these significantly changed "work-flow" patterns and vastly different sample analysis needs created by this new paradigm. ProteoSep is the only available technology that addresses a significant bottleneck in high throughput protein analysis; namely, 2D gel electrophoresis. This powerful technique has been demonstrated for the monitoring of disease progression, the characterization of cell lines, drug efficacy studies, and for bacterial pathogen fingerprinting.