American Stock Exchange to Trade Options on Seven Securities NEW YORK, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) will launch trading in options on Monday, December 22, 2003 on the following Nasdaq Stock Market and American Stock Exchange listed stocks of: * Abaxis. Inc. (Option Symbol: QOX/Stock Symbol: ABAX) * Closure Medical Corporation (Option Symbol: QOD/Stock Symbol: CLSR) * Corillian Corporation (Option Symbol: QON/Stock Symbol: CORI) * Genus, Inc. (Option Symbol: QNE/Stock Symbol: GGNS) * Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (Option Symbol: QND/Stock Symbol: KIND) * Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Symbol: OMR) * PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS INCORPORATED (Option Symbol: QOV/Stock Symbol: PRCS) Abaxis. Inc. options will open with strike prices of 15 - 17-1/2 - 20 and position limits of 22,500 contracts. The options will trade on February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Charlton Specialist Partners, LLC. Abaxis, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any patient care setting. Closure Medical Corporation options will open with strike prices of 25 - 30 - 35 and position limits of 13,500 contracts. The options will trade on the February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Tanstaafl Research & Trading, LLC. Closure Medical Corporation develops, manufactures and commercializes medical cohesive products for would closure. Corillian Corporation options will open with strike prices of 2-1/2 - 5 - 7-1/2 and position limits of 31,500 contracts. The options will trade on the February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Bowery Specialist Group, LLC. Corillian Corporation provides Internet financial solutions. Genus, Inc. options will open with strike prices of 2-1/2 - 5 - 7-1/2 and position limits of 31,500 contracts. The options will trade on the February with expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Bowery Specialist Group, LLC. Genus, Inc. manufactures critical deposition processing tools that enable the production of micro computer chips and electronic storage devices. Kindred Healthcare, Inc options will open with strike prices of 45 - 50 - 55 and position limits of 22,500 contracts. The options will trade on the February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be LaBranche Structured Products, LLC. Kindred Healthcare, Inc. provides long-term healthcare services primarily operating nursing centers and hospitals across the United States. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. options will open with strike prices of 2-1/2 - 5 - 7-1/2 and position limits of 22,500 contracts. The options will trade on February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Highland Securities Corp. Amex-listed Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. specializes in shipwreck search, recovery and marketing. PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS INCORPORATED options will open with strike prices of 5 - 7-1/2 - 10 and position limits of 31,500 contracts. The options will trade on the February expiration cycle with initial expirations in January, February, May and August. The specialist will be Charlton Specialist Partners, LLC. PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS INCORPORATED develops peptide-based therapeutics for the treatment of human diseases. The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRS(SM). In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 126 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. DATASOURCE: American Stock Exchange CONTACT: Lynn Teresky of American Stock Exchange, +1-212-306-1654, Web site: http://www.amex.com/

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