NORMAN, Okla. (June 24, 2002) - Dr. Patrick McCann, founder and president of Ekips Technologies, Inc., announced today the company has received a $100,000 Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for support of hardware and software development of the company's flagship product The BreathmeterTM (www.breathmeter.com), a laser-based breath analysis instrument that can be used to diagnose chronic illnesses such as asthma. The NSF grant will be used in conjunction with a $300,000 grant received earlier this year from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST).

"Asthma experts emphasize early diagnosis and anti-inflammatory treatment to prevent permanent lung damage," says McCann, an MIT graduate and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. "The Ekips Breathmeter is designed to measure molecules associated with airway inflammation in the asthmatic patient, and the test is fast, non-invasive and easy to perform. Our objective is to get this technology into clinical use as soon as possible so that people who suffer from asthma, especially young children, will benefit from better diagnosis and ongoing monitoring."

According to McCann, there are two major tasks for the current phase of product development:

1. Reduce the cost of the Breathmeter instrument through electronic, optical and manufacturing enhancements.
2. Expand the instrument to measure other important volatile organic compounds in exhaled human breath. The end result of the project will be an instrument designed for the diagnosis and management of asthma and other diseases. This pre-production instrument will be used in clinical trials and eventually made available to the public for use by people ranging in age from infants to the elderly.

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Ekips Receives NSF Funding for Breathmeter/ADD ONE

"The receipt of an NSF Phase I grant demonstrates the quality of research performed by the Ekips scientific team," says William Sibley, President, Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. "It's another affirmation of our ability to compete on a national level with technology development which can have global implications."

"We continue to believe in the potential of Ekips and its laser-based technologies," says Dr. William Paiva of the Oklahoma Life Sciences Fund and partner at Chisholm Private Capital Partners. "NSF grants are peer reviewed and a strong affirmation of the work by Dr. McCann and his research team. The resulting product development research will enhance the commercial viability of the Breathmeter^TM technology for the medical community."

Asthma is the sixth ranking chronic condition in the United States and the leading chronic illness in children. The disease is the number one cause of school absences (10 million lost school days annually). Nationwide, 1.8 million patients visit emergency rooms each year for asthma attacks. The estimated annual cost of treating asthma in those less than 18 years of age is $3.2 billion.

According to McCann, the ability to perform a fast and easy breath test that assesses airway inflammation is promising because it will assist physicians in the diagnosis of asthma, adjustment of anti-inflammatory medications and monitoring of compliance with treatment. The Breathmeter test is faster and more objective than current diagnostic techniques, he adds.

"The medical community has expressed the need for more objective diagnostic tests for the presence of asthma and monitoring the effectiveness of treatments," says McCann. "More than eight years of research has shown that measurement of exhaled nitric oxide provides for repeatable, reliable and sensitive diagnostic tests related to asthma, and more studies are showing additional viable biomarkers for asthma and other chronic diseases. With the Breathmeter^TM, we have a fast, accurate, non-invasive product that should provide a critical breakthrough in this important area of health monitoring, especially for children."

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About Ekips Technologies, Inc. Ekips Technologies, Inc., is an Oklahoma corporation founded in 1997 to develop, manufacture and market lasers and laser-based systems. The company's proprietary technology enables low-cost fabrication of semiconductor lasers that have performance characteristics superior to those of competing products.