March 18, 2008

METABOLON ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH THE EUROPEAN GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF INSULIN RESISTANCE

Partnership to Accelerate Pre-Diabetes Diagnostic Development

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (March 18, 2008)—Metabolon, Inc., the leader in metabolomics-driven biomarker discovery and analysis, announced today a collaboration with the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR).

The EGIR has compiled large numbers of biological samples from studies conducted at 19 clinical research centers across Europe as part of their effort to understand insulin resistance and how it affects disease. Metabolon will discover and validate the biomarkers found in these samples that relate to insulin resistance. These markers will be used to help further develop Metabolon’s diagnostic test for pre-diabetic patients.

“This collaboration with EGIR will help Metabolon accelerate the development of Quantose™ IR, our diagnostic test for better screening of pre-diabetic patients,” remarked Dr. John Ryals, president and CEO of Metabolon. “This routine test will help identify pre-diabetic patients years before they become diabetic. With this information in hand, doctors can intervene with lifestyle or drug therapies which may delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.”

Insulin resistance is a condition where the body’s tissues are less responsive to insulin, the hormone that controls blood glucose levels and its metabolism. Insulin resistance is associated with people who are overweight, physically inactive or have other metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure and dyslipidemia.

Insulin resistance is estimated to affect about one-third of the adult population in the U.S. alone—approximately 75 million people. Known as one of the primary contributors to the development of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance is characteristically an asymptomatic condition that precedes the development of diabetes by many years. People with insulin resistance may appear healthy, however if undetected and unmanaged, insulin resistance can lead to long-term chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“We are excited to be working with Metabolon in analyzing our samples,” said Dr. Ele Ferrannini, principal investigator at the University of Pisa and coordinator of the EGIR’s Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease (RISC) project. “Their biomarker discovery platform will give us valuable insight into the biochemical changes related to insulin resistance.”

About Metabolon

Metabolon is a diagnostics and services company offering the industry’s leading biochemical profiling platform. Metabolon’s patented platform provides a global analysis of complex biological samples for the discovery of markers and pathways associated with drug action and disease. This metabolomics-driven approach enables the identification of biomarkers useful for the development of a wide range of diagnostics and provides insight into complex biochemical processes such as drug action, toxicology and bioprocess optimization. For more information about Metabolon, please visit www.metabolon.com.

About EGIR

The European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR) is a multi-disciplinary group of investigators with different research backgrounds—epidemiology, endocrinology, basic science and public health—interested in insulin resistance. The first combined activity of the group was a data-pooling project from hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp experiments performed in 21 centers across Europe. This unique database has now produced 11 publications. EGIR holds annual meetings in different European cities, each hosted by one of its members. Presentations are given by members of the group and by invited speakers working in the field of insulin resistance and related subjects. In 2001 the EGIR project Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease (RISC) was awarded funding by the European Commission to carry out a project examining the effects of insulin resistance in healthy people (without diabetes or hypertension). The project started in 2002 and the three-year follow up examinations are in the process of being completed. The project has produced seven publications and more are in preparation. For more information on EGIR and RISC, see www.egir.org.