ECI BIOTECH JOINS THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

ECI Biotech, a Worcester company engaged in breakthrough research on protein design and expression, is developing products to combat bioterrorism.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Dubin, PR Works
(781) 878-9533, sdubin@prworkzone.com

ECI BIOTECH JOINS THE FIGHT
AGAINST TERRORISM

Worcester Firm Responds to Defense Department Request

DATELINE: WORCESTER, MA, DECEMBER 31, 2001 --
ECI Biotech, a Worcester company engaged in breakthrough research on protein
design and expression, is developing products to combat bioterrorism.

"ECI Biotech's protein technologies are applicable to a variety of products
that can be developed to counteract terrorism," said Sanders. "In
particular, our "detector proteins", which can sense a chemical change in
their environment, can be directly applied to antiterrorism products."

Given the hard realities facing America since September 11th, new
technologies such as those being developed by ECI Biotech may make a
significant contribution in the effort to protect Americans on both the
military and civilian fronts.

In late October, the United States Department of Defense, in conjunction
with the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), issued a call to companies,
universities, and federal research centers to propose a wide-range of
innovative technology products to fight terrorism, that could be developed
and fielded within 12 to 18 months. A Pentagon spokesman characterized this
unusually broad request as an attempt to get, and quickly put in place,
innovative ideas from sources that might not otherwise have direct access to
the Pentagon.

As part of this effort, ECI Biotech recently participated in the
"Technologies Against Terrorism" conference held in Cambridge and
co-sponsored by Arthur D. Little and the Massachusetts Technology
Collaborative.

"ECI Biotech is a company that develops protein folding technologies, with
broad applications" explained Dr. Mitchell Sanders, President of ECI
Biotech. "Proteins are complex molecules that perform almost every
essential function of living things. We are able to take specific proteins
and make them more stable, soluble, active, and robust. This allows us to
develop a vast array of products, ranging from therapeutic applications to
detection of specific pathogens."

ECI is seeking government funding to develop a detection device, which could
be worn as a badge that would indicate the presence of broad spectrum
pathogens, such as anthrax. This is a product that would be equally useful
to military personnel in the field and at-risk civilians on the home front.

"The recent anthrax attacks have monopolized the public's attention with
regard to bioterrorism," said Sanders. He continued, "But there are a
number of other biologic agents, such as smallpox or the plague, which
present an even greater risk. ECI has the technology to create a product
that can screen for a wide range of bacterial and viral germs."

Another area that the scientists at ECI Biotech are targeting, are products
to remove heavy metal contamination from the water supply.

According to Sanders, "We feel that in terms of actual risk, contamination
of our water supply with a toxic metal, such as mercury or cadmium, would be
a form of attack that would be relatively easy for terrorists to implement.
With our technology, we can develop a protein that will bind to heavy
metals, allowing them to be removed from the water supply with relative
ease."

ECI Biotech, headquartered at 377 Plantation Street, Worcester,
Massachusetts, is a protein design company focused on the dynamics of
protein structure. Proteins are complex molecules that perform almost every
essential function of living things. ECI Biotech has developed two distinct
technologies based on monitoring and preserving the highly sensitive protein
structure: "protector proteins" enhance protein stability and functioning in
unfavorable conditions, while "detector proteins" sense changes in protein
structure that indicate a chemical shift in the environment.

ECI Biotech intends to license its protein technologies for use in large
industries with unmet needs, including food safety, medical diagnostics,
industrial chemistry and consumer goods. ECI Biotech's product pipeline
includes a diagnostic kit for detecting the pathogenic bacteria Listeria
monocytogenes, a leading cause of meat and poultry recalls, as well as two
advanced wound care systems designed to provide early warning of emergent
infections and to promote healing.

For more information about ECI Biotech and its protein technologies, please
visit www.ecibiotech.com, or contact Dr. Mitchell Sanders at (508) 752-2209.

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Note to Editors:

For a phone briefing with the knowledgeable and articulate Dr. Mitchell Sanders, president and founder of ECI, please contact Steve Dubin,
sdubin@prworkzone, (781) 878-9533. Sanders received a Ph.D. at WPI, Doctoral Research was performed at the Worcester Foundation for
Experimental Biology. Additionally, he has two postdocs at The Whitehead Institute/MIT.