PHILADELPHIA, Jun 16, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Alliance integrates world-class biomarker service providers Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Gentris Corporation, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology and MDS Pharma Services

MDS Pharma Services (NYSE:MDZ) (TSX:MDS), a leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development solutions, has spearheaded the formation of The Biomarker Alliance(TM) (www.biomarkeralliance.com) serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Biomarker Alliance, which will design and execute a wide range of biomarker discovery and development programs, is made up of the world-class biomarker service providers Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Gentris Corporation, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology and MDS Pharma Services.

"More research is emerging that shows biomarkers are 'the wave of the future with the potential to change medicine as we know it.'(1) The Biomarker Alliance is on the crest of that wave with its collective insight, expertise and seamless program management. These capabilities enable the Biomarker Alliance to significantly reduce drug discovery and development timelines while eliminating the need to invest in multiple technology platforms and infrastructure," says Dr. J. Fred Pritchard, vice president, Drug Development Programs, MDS Pharma Services.

"The economics and uncertainties of drug development demand that successful companies quickly demonstrate the safety and efficacy of their compounds," says Lloyd M. Segal, president and CEO, Caprion Pharmaceuticals. "Using biomarkers to make key development decisions early can reduce development timelines and increase the likelihood of regulatory and clinical success, thereby maximizing market positioning."

"MDS Pharma Services' sponsorship of The Biomarker Alliance is quite logical since we have a long and successful biomarker history, and we have the world's largest array of validated biomarker assays," says Pritchard.

The Biomarker Alliance is unique. It is the only organization providing single-point access to proteomics, pharmacogenomics, imaging, assay development and clinical testing together in one, easy-to-access package designed to maximize the probability of success of any drug candidate.

"This combination of services is ideal since it represents the type of work in which our clients are already expressing interest," says Michael Murphy, president and CEO, Gentris Corporation.

"The members of the Alliance have seen the future and the potential. They know what it will take to identify and apply biomarkers in a scientific manner that expresses the safety and efficacy of new compounds that could potentially change the way medicine is practiced today," says Murphy.

In addition to the seamless program-management services offered by MDS Pharma Services, the Alliance's clients' have access to:

Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Montreal, Canada (www.caprion.com) --- the pharmaceutical industry partner of choice for protein biomarker discovery;

Gentris Corporation, Research Triangle Park, N.C. (www.gentris.com) --- the leading global provider of applied clinical pharmacogenomic services and products;

Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology, Boston, Mass. (www.massgeneralimaging.org) --- a pioneering leader in imaging biomarkers and the use of imaging technology in clinical trials; and

MDS Pharma Services, King of Prussia, Pa. (www.mdsps.com) --- the premier provider of biomarker discovery, development and implementation.

"Biomarkers are becoming more critical in the process of discovering and developing new drugs and in determining additional uses for established drugs. Biomarkers are ushering in the age of personalized medicine," notes Pritchard.

(1) CONTRACT PHARMA May 2005

About MDS Pharma Services

MDS Pharma Services offers a full spectrum of resources to meet the drug discovery and development needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With numerous facilities strategically located around the world, the company applies advanced scientific and technological expertise to each stage of the drug discovery and development process - Early Stage: lead optimization, pre-IND research, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical development, early clinical research (bioequivalence, Phases I-IIa) and bioanalysis; and Late Stage: global clinical development (Phases IIb-IV) and central lab. For more information, visit MDS Pharma Services' Web site at www.mdsps.com.

MDS Pharma Services is an integral part of MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ). MDS Inc. has more than 9,000 highly skilled people in 27 countries. MDS Inc. provides a diverse range of superior products and services to increase its customers' speed, precision and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis processes. MDS Inc. is a global, values-driven health and life sciences company, recognized for its reliability and collaborative relationships as it helps create better outcomes in the treatment of disease. For more information, visit MDS Inc.'s Web site at www.mdsintl.com.

About Caprion Pharmaceuticals

Caprion is a leading proteomics-based drug discovery company applying CellCarta(R) to discover and develop innovative products for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Caprion has established therapeutic antibody discovery partnerships with Abbott Laboratories in Lung Cancer, and Biogen IDEC (NASDAQ: BIIB) in Colon Cancer, and pharmaco-proteomic discovery collaborations with Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Caprion's partners also include IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) and Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (NYSE:JNJ). Caprion's therapeutic antibodies for the prevention of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) resulting from E. coli infection are currently in Phase I clinical trials. For more information, visit Caprion's Web site at www.caprion.com.

About Gentris Corporation

Gentris Corporation is a leading global provider of applied clinical pharmacogenomic services and diagnostic product solutions. As pioneers in the field of pharmacogenomics, Gentris helps pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations effectively integrate pharmacogenomics into their drug development programs to deliver safer, more effective compounds to the market sooner. Gentris is developing diagnostic test kits and validated reference controls that will bring the promise of personalized medicine to physicians and patients, which will enhance patient management, improve patients' response to therapy and revolutionize medicine through pharmacogenomics. For more information, visit Gentris's Web site at www.gentris.com.

About Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology

The Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology is an academic, non-profit organization and a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. A true pioneer in the realm of medical imaging, Mass General relies on its renowned subspecialty expertise and clinical trials experience to offer a vast array of imaging services, including: project management, protocol and study planning, development of image acquisition and analysis guidelines, and qualitative & quantitative surrogate endpoint image analysis for Phase I-IV trials. The MGH Center for Biomarkers in Imaging draws on MGH Radiology's extensive experience in working with industry, academia and the government and is dedicated to the identification, characterization and validation of image-related biomarkers. For more information, visit MGH's Web site at www.massgeneralimaging.org or www.biomarkers.org.

MDS Pharma Services (TSX:MDS) (NYSE:MDZ)

SOURCE: MDS Pharma Services

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