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PRESS RELEASE - JULY 9th, 2007 UPSTREAM BIOSCIENCES INC. ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH
GENPATHWAY, INC. TO ADVANCE BIOMARKER VALIDATION STUDIES Vancouver, British Columbia – July 9, 2007 – Upstream Biosciences Inc. (OTCBB: UPBS), an emerging leader in the field of genetic diagnostics for cancer and the prediction of drug response, today announced that it has retained Genpathway, Inc. to conduct analysis using its highly sensitive chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. The analysis is intended to provide critical information for the next phase of Upstream’s program to validate its first two cancer biomarkers and drug response assay. Genpathway will apply its assays to help elucidate critical parameters involving specific gene transcription factors and pathways. Upstream uses advanced data mining techniques to identify regulatory regions of the genome upstream of genes that are known to be involved in key disease and drug response processes. These regulatory regions function as ‘gene switches’ controlling the conditions under which a gene is activated, the number of copies of the gene that is produced and the proteins that the gene expresses. Patients with cancer are believed to have characteristic genetic variations in these regulatory regions, and Upstream has identified specific genetic variations to use as diagnostic biomarkers for various forms of cancer. Upstream currently has five provisional patent filings covering the use of these genetic variations as cancer biomarkers. “Advancing our drug response and cancer biomarker validation programs is a top priority for the company, so we are very pleased to be working with another leader in the field of chromatin immunoprecipitation, and DNA methylation assays,” said Upstream CEO Joel Bellenson. “This agreement with Genpathway builds on the important analytic work we already have underway with NimbleGen and may allow us to acquire in-depth information that is not available with other analytic methods.” “We are excited to be working with Upstream Biosciences to enable the rapid progress of their programs to validate their proprietary prostate and liver cancer biomarker candidates and drug response assay,” said Mary Harper, Genpathway’s CSO. Upstream is developing diagnostic tests designed to aid in the early detection of cancer by identifying individuals with a high degree of susceptibility to the disease. The company is also developing genetic-based diagnostic tests to measure how individuals respond to specific drugs, enabling physicians to determine beforehand whether a therapy will be useful or harmful to the patient. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that each year about 100,000 people die in the United States due to adverse reactions to prescription drugs. For more information, please contact Samantha Haynes at 1-800-539-0289 or info@upstreambio.com. Media Contact: GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners, Barbara Lindheim: Tel: 212- 918-4650
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