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MIICRO's Neuroimaging Method Receives Patent Allowance=20 October 6, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHICAGO, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. -- MIICRO, Inc. = announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued the = company a Notice of Allowance on the company's Patent Application, = "Determining Effects of Psychoactive Compounds on the Brain Using PET."=20 The company's core technology, the OMEI(TM) method, relates a condition = in the brain to a stimulus effect through analysis of statistical = metabolic image data. The technology has been previously unavailable to = the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. MIICR0's method = measures downstream changes in regional glucose metabolism to show how = drugs alter the brain's activity: the end-effect of the drug-receptor = interaction and sequentially induced post-synaptic responses.=20 Using MIICRO's method of metabolic imaging, drug developers can = eliminate the costly guess work that typifies much of the central = nervous system (CNS) drug development industry. Currently, developers = spend about $500 million over 15 years to bring a single drug to market. = However, only 20% of compounds entering human clinical trials will ever = receive FDA approval. Metabolic neuroimaging will allow developers to = identify ineffective CNS compounds before wasting time and money. = Developers will also design more effective and inexpensive Phase II = trials because they will better determine a drug's effectiveness within = the quantified dose range.=20 MIICRO's President and CEO, Ciaran Cooper co-founded the company in 1995 = and raised $1.4 million in private equity capital. Proceeds from the = private placement have been used to fund marketing and sales activities, = as well as to further develop the company's core technology. The = company's research and development plan includes support from government = sponsored grants (such as SBIR awards), collaborative research with = pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and its own directed research. The = company is currently engaged in a second round of financing that will = enable it to carry out its operations to an anticipated IPO.=20 "We are very pleased to announce the issuance of our first U.S. patent, = " commented Mr. Cooper. "We are privileged to have received such an = endorsement of our core technology through this rigorous process."=20 MIICRO, Inc. is a privately held, specialized bioinformatics contract = research organization that provides neuroimaging services and expertise = to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. In addition to = collaborating with multinational pharmaceutical companies, the company = has a directed research program aimed at further developing applications = for the OMEI(TM) method.=20 This press release contains forward-looking statements that invoke risk = and uncertainties.=20 SOURCE MIICRO, Inc.=20 /CONTACT: Declan Cooper, Vice President of MIICRO, Inc., 312-455-0934, = [log in to unmask] /Web site: http://www.miicro-inc.com/=20 =A0