Biotec Pharmacon subsidiary awarded NOK 5 million research grant

ArcticZymes AS, a subsidiary company of Biotec Pharmacon ASA, has
received a grant of NOK 5 million from the The Research Council of
Norway, for a project titled "Functionalization of enzymes from marine
bioprospecting". The total project budget is NOK approx. 10 million over
3 years.
The project is a user driven innovation project which aims to accelerate
the commercialization of new functionalized enzyme solutions
[ol1] (http://#_msocom_1) in the Bioprospecting program under The
Research Council's Biotek2021 initiative.

ArcticZymes' enzyme portfolio is expanding quickly, primarily due to the
progress of strategic partnerships with MabCent, MARZymes and others,
and results from the ongoing InnoZymes project which received funding
from The Research Council's Functional Genomics in Norway (FUGE) program
in April 2011.

ArcticZymes is now able to combine its enzymes into new user-friendly
kit solutions, providing rational and sample preserving solutions to key
applications within molecular biology sample preparation. This new grant
makes it possible for ArcticZymes to accelerate completion and launch of
such new kit-solutions on the market.

ArcticZymes develops, produces and sells enzymes used in molecular DNA
technologies and diagnostics, growth areas with constantly increasing
demand for kit solutions rather than single enzyme deliveries.

For additional information, please contact:

Svein Lien, CEO: +47 92 28 93 23

About marine bioprospecting in ArcticZymes:

The Arctic Ocean and Barents Sea are habitats with extreme and variable
conditions that have led to the evolution of unique organisms adapted to
this environment. The high activity of the cold-adapted/psychrophilic
enzymes is often coupled to low thermal stability. This heat-lability
provides a useful "off-switch" by which the enzyme can easily be
inactivated.

Molecular biology and diagnostic applications are often multi-step
processes that require removal of reagents and enzymes during process
flow. Compared to physical extraction, irreversible removal of an
enzymatic activity by a simple heat-inactivation significantly reduces
the hands-on time of the reaction, eliminates sample loss and reduces
risk of contamination and/or failure.

About Biotec Pharmacon:

Biotec Pharmacon is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and
manufactures new immunomodulatory products and cold adapted marine
enzymes. The wholly owned Biotec BetaGlucans AS focuses on identifying,
developing and commercializing innovative products to meet medical needs
in wound treatment, cancer and gastroenterology. The company's
technology is protected by a large patent portfolio covering amongst
others applications of yeast beta-glucans as adjuvants in conjunction
with monoclonal antibodies. The subsidiary ArcticZymes AS aspires to
become a leading supplier of novel enzymes for diagnostics and genetic
research.

For more information, visit www.biotec.no.

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 [ol1] (http://#_msoanchor_1)Ville flyttet denne hit. Slik det sto kunne
det tolkes at Biotek2021 har som målsetning å kommersialisere
funksjonelle enzymløsninger.