On March 17^th HUNT Biosciences and NTNU signed an agreement regarding use of data and samples from The North Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). HUNT Biosciences, according to the agreement, has access to HUNT material for specific project applications.

HUNT Biosciences was established in 2007 to commercialize results from HUNT. The first study was conducted in the years from 1984 to 1986 (HUNT 1) and the most recent study was concluded in 2008 (HUNT 3).

The company is jointly owned by NTNU, Helse Midt-Norge and North Trøndelag County. The company is ideologically scientific and social in nature, and, together with its owners, will focus on contributing to increased research funding, initiating new health studies and stimulating health related initiatives in the region.

HUNT BIOSCIENCES
PRESS RELEASE

FORMER GE HEALTHCARE DIRECTOR, PER FOSS APPOINTED CEO
FOR HUNT BIOSCIENCES

Biomarker validation specialists step up commercial activities as HUNT III
cohort recruitment is completed

Levanger, Norway, February 28 2009
HUNT Biosciences, the commercial arm of the HUNT Study and associated biobank today announced the appointment of former GE Healthcare director Per Foss as its new CEO. The company provides pharmaceutical and healthcare companies with biomarker discovery and validation services. These are based on the unique HUNT Study, which for the past 25 years has gathered blood samples from the general population of the Nord-Trøndelag region together with detailed phenotype and environmental data. Foss joins just as recruitment for the third phase, HUNT III has closed, again with an astonishing high inclusion rate of 60%. This will bring the total recruitment number of unique individuals to 135,000 and reinforce the core strengths in key public health areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obstructive lung disease, osteoporosis and mental health. More than 60 % of the participants have been screened twice, 25 % have participated in all three surveys.

"For both pharmaceutical and biotech companies, HUNT Biosciences is ideally positioned to devise biomarker strategies across a wide range of key disease areas," says Foss. "The unique combination of biomedical and phenotypic information collected over the past 25 years from a general population rather than specific cohort promises rapid and effective biomarker discovery and validation."

The HUNT Study operates as a satellite to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Per Ivar Maudal, Executive Director for innovation and industrial relations at NTNU and chairman of the board of HUNT Biosciences, welcomes the appointment:

"For academic researchers HUNT already provides data on a large number of diseases observed in this general population. It has been validated by more than 45 completed PhD-degrees and several hundred ongoing or completed research projects with particular emphasis on major disease areas such as type II diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, cardiovascular, kidney and lung diseases, We believe HUNT Biosciences provides an efficient and ethical vehicle for industry to access this data and can lead to the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for benefit of both the Norwegian and international healthcare systems."

Notes to editors
The HUNT Study and its associated biobank represent a regional cohort of more than 100.000 individuals and is part of CONOR, the Cohort of Norway. In addition to professionally stored genetic samples, the HUNT Study comprises more than 3000 clinical variables including 800 environmental exposure variables collected since the early 1980s. This unique resource operates as a satellite to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology ( NTNU) in Trondheim and is situated in a new, specially designed National Biobank building with state-of-the-art infrastructure, storing samples from 250 000 CONOR participants. The Norwegian authorities have earned the population’s trust through a well-established framework and rigorous routines for protection of personal information. Based on this trust and the unique system of unambiguous personal identification numbers, the HUNT Study offers integration of biobank data with other national registries on clinical information and medical end-points, as well as genealogical and family linkage information.

Genetics
DNA from about 250.000 individuals (CONOR) and 15.000 RNA samples Immortalized cells for cell line production from 50.000 individuals Genetic expression analysis from tumor biopsies can also be provided from selected HUNT participants.

Phenotype
Precise information on health status and extensive lifestyle data Cross-linkage to local clinical endpoints and national registries: "Medical Birth". "Cause of Death", "Prescription Registry", "Cancer Registry" and other validated clinical endpoint registries on myocardial infarction, venous tromboembolism, stroke and factures based on local hospital records.

Environment
Coverage of more than 800 exposure variables
Prospective information due to long observation period

The HUNT Study is also an integrated part of three EU projects in FP 6 and FP 7 and its role in EU funded medical research is expected to be further extended and deepened in the Framework 7 programs. HUNT cooperates actively with a number of European biobanks, and the COBOR consortium signed a bilateral national agreement with UK Biobank in 2005, including the development of integrated solutions for data management and automated sample handling.