83 Science Park Drive, #03-02A, The Curie Science Park 1, Singapore 118258 Tel: +65 6776 3633, Fax: +65 6776 6636 Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

31 July 2006

Veredus Laboratories and the ’s Seventh Fleet jointly setup World’s First Ship-based Avian Flu Testing Laboratory.

Singapore, July 31, 2006 - Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd today announced that they have teamed up with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet to setup ship-based avian flu testing laboratories.

U.S. Seventh Fleet Surgeon, Capt. Charles Baxter, together with Dr. Rosemary Tan, CEO of Veredus Laboratories, have evaluated the medical laboratory capabilities on board a U.S. Navy afloat unit and determined that rapid testing for avian bird flu (H5N1) can be performed to internationally recognized standard, ultimately saving lives. Dr. Tan has also conducted training sessions for the Seventh Fleet USS Blue Ridge’s medical department on laboratory procedures dealing with the H5N1 virus.

The ship-based avian flu testing laboratories will be using Veredus’ avian flu H5N1 kit, which has been developed and tested over the last few years. It is used to detect the pathogen as it is able to detect minute amount of the RNA of the Avian Flu virus in infected humans or animals. This highly specific and accurate test will give the laboratories the capability to rapidly identify the H5N1 virus within hours.

The lab results and using the fleet response kits will allow the unit to perform the necessary decontamination and disinfection procedures in the event of an on-board infection to provide protection to unaffected crew members and prevent any possible spread of the virus into a port.

U.S. Seventh Fleet Surgeon Capt. Baxter added, “This laboratory test will help the ships’ overall medical readiness and allow Seventh Fleet units to continue its mission with minimal operational impact. Having the ability to rapidly test and identify individuals infected with the H5N1 virus will allow us to contain the spread of the virus in infected persons and allow us to focus our medical resources more efficiently. With limited supplies of Tamiflu and no proven avian flu vaccine, having this capability is paramount to Force Health Protection and will be critical in an actual pandemic.”

“Currently the gold standard to confirm the H5N1 infection is by viral culture. This process takes approximately 10 days once the specimen is received at a reference laboratory. There are also a limited number of certified viral culture labs available worldwide. In a pandemic these labs would quickly become overwhelmed and unable to meet regional demands. That could significantly affect morbidity and mortality rates,” said Dr. Tan. “Molecular DNA analysis, embodied in this H5N1 afloat test kit, is quickly becoming accepted as a very specific, sensitive and accurate detection method in viral infection. This kit has been tested in parallel with viral cultures of Avian Flu cases in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam with excellent results.”

“Exploit Technologies is pleased that Veredus is able to leverage on world class research from A*STAR researchers to develop a robust solution to address a global need to rapidly detect avian flu,” said Mr. Boon Swan Foo, Managing Director of A*STAR and Executive Chairman of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd. “We are proud that Veredus is able to develop an afloat detection test for the U.S. Navy.”

As the avian flu viruses are constantly mutating and changing, our double-checking test means that we can provide a high degree of confidence and comfort to our end users when they use our tests,” said Chua Chee Min, Managing Director of Veredus Laboratories. “We are pleased to 83 Science Park Drive, #03-02A, The Curie Singapore Science Park 1, Singapore 118258 Tel: +65 6776 3633, Fax: +65 6776 6636 Email: [email protected]

work with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet to customize sea-based laboratory platforms and detection kits for the surveillance, screening and diagnosis of the avian flu.

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About Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd

Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd is a privately held, medical diagnostics company engaged in the development, commercialization and manufacture of diagnostic assays for diseases. As a successful enabler for innovative technologies, products and services, Veredus is the partner of choice for industrial research in Life Sciences, Diagnostics and Pharma. For more information, please visit www.vereduslabs.com.

For further information, please contact:

Dr Rosemary Tan CEO, Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd Mobile: +65 9619 9690 Email: [email protected]

About United States Seventh Fleet

Operating in the Western Pacific and , the U.S. Seventh Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, composed of approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 sailors and marines assigned at any given time.