GENOMICS COLLABORATIVE, INC. AND ACTIVX BIOSCIENCE, INC. SIGN PROTEOMICS DISCOVERY PROGRAM IN COLON CANCER

Agreement Aimed At Advancing New Targets For A Devastating Disease

Cambridge, MA and La Jolla, CA - July 31, 2001 - Genomics Collaborative, Inc. (GCI) and ActivX Bioscience, Inc. (ABS) today announced that they have entered into a partnership to identify and validate proteins and gene targets associated with colon cancer. The two companies will work together to profile protein activity in colon cancers and normal tissues from patients supplied by Genomics Collaborative's vast resource of human tissue and sera sample using ActivX's activity-based proteomics technology. The goal of this partnership is to develop a joint research program utilizing activity-based proteomics on colon cancer specimens to identify new targets suited for diagnostic and therapeutic development.

"Our collaboration with ActivX affords us access to one of the industry's truly unique and comprehensive proteomics technologies and will advance GCI's cancer research initiatives.
By applying the power of our collective capabilities to extremely well-characterized colon cancer tissue, this partnership will position both companies to uncover promising new targets in this disease," said Michael Pellini, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Genomics Collaborative.

"GCI's unprecedented resource of information-linked clinical materials is an ideal showcase to highlight the power of the ActivX high-throughput, activity-based proteomics technology," said John W. Kozarich, Ph.D., President & CEO of ActivX. "This collaboration is an important component in our strategy to leverage the ActivX technology as a driver of novel target and drug discovery programs."

About ActivX Biosciences
ActivX Biosciences, Inc., (www.activx.com), a privately held biotechnology company in La Jolla, California, is a pioneer in the field of activity-based proteomics, the identification and analysis of active proteins. By focusing on protein activity, ActivX is addressing the biochemical mechanisms of disease more directly than standard genomics and proteomics techniques. ActivX technology includes novel chemistry integrated into a high-throughput platform to rapidly interrogate the activities of proteins in all ranges of abundance in any biological sample. ActivX is using its proprietary technology to solve the most important problems in drug discovery and development, including identification of novel drug targets, determination of target selectivity for drug candidates and the assessment of efficacy and toxicity for candidate and established drugs.

About Genomics Collaborative
Genomics Collaborative, Inc. ("GCI") is a clinical functional genomic company with a comprehensive, clinical approach to discovery. GCI maintains Global Repositoryä, an unparalleled, large-scale resource of appropriately consented clinical research material, including human DNA, sera, and snap-frozen tissue samples, linked to detailed material information collected from patient populations worldwide.

To date, the Company has recruited over 100,000 patients in Global Repositoryä, and collections continue in cardiovascular disease, inflammatory disease, metabolic disorders, various cancers, and other disease states. GCI and its collaborators apply a suite of high throughput genomic analysis tools in research conducted leveraging the assets of Global Repositoryä, placing the Company at the forefront of next generation target discovery and validation. GCI has also introduced GCI Access, a unique service offering to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, allowing customer access to the samples and clinical data of Global Repository.

Rigorous Ethical Standards
GCI is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards possible, and to that end, meets quarterly with a distinguished Bioethics Advisory Board that has been invaluable in developing innovative solutions to the range of ethical problems posed by genetic research. In addition, GCI has created a proprietary system for anonymizing collections while ensuring data quality and protecting patient confidentiality.

Informed consent and patient rights are key to GCI's operations, and ensure sample quality while maintaining pristine ethical standards. Working with international leaders in the area of informed consent for genetic research, GCI has developed consent procedures appropriate to the repository context.

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