Allowed patent covers measurement of several tissue structure features for high-throughput screening RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biotechnology company Icoria, Inc. (OTC:ICOR.OB) (BULLETIN BOARD: ICOR.OB) today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a pending patent application related to the high throughput measurement of blood vessels in a tissue sample. This recently allowed patent application is a part of the portfolio of issued and pending patents that Icoria purchased in 2004 in the acquisition of TissueInformatics.Inc. The allowed patent application, entitled "Methods for Quantitative Analysis of Blood Vessel Structure," is drawn to cover the methods of geometrical analysis that enable the automated measurement of several features of images of tissue. These methods allow fast, repeatable and accurate analysis of tissue samples. The proof-of-concept work underlying the application involved a cardiovascular device study in an animal model of the restenosis-like response of blood vessels injured by balloon angioplasty. Possible applications for the technology include the cardiovascular device market. "Quantitative tissue analysis represents an important advance in characterizing disease progression and, as in the proof-of-concept work here, potential therapeutic outcomes," said Thomas Colatsky, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Research. "Our growing portfolio of patents covering methods of quantitative tissue analysis not only supports our internal capabilities in biomarker discovery, but may also represent a potential licensing opportunity for companies requiring new ways of extracting high content biological image data for clinical and preclinical research." Icoria has four issued U.S. patents and thirteen U.S. and international patent applications in its quantitative tissue analysis portfolio. The company has a total of 70 pending U.S. patent applications, 42 pending international patent applications, and 24 issued U.S. patents. About Icoria On September 20, 2005, Icoria announced that it had executed a merger agreement with Clinical Data Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDA) whereby Clinical Data will acquire Icoria in an all-stock transaction valued at up to $12.5 million. The acquisition is expected to close late this year or in early 2006, pending approval by Icoria's shareholders. More information on this transaction is available at http://www.icoria.com/. More information on Clinical Data is available at http://www.clda.com/. Icoria, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery of novel, multi-parameter biomarkers using its unique multi-platform approach. Icoria intends to use these future biomarkers internally to develop multi-analyte diagnostics to define and grade pathology or disease state with a high level of specificity and sensitivity, and use its technology to help collaborators and customers develop better, safer drugs and diagnostics and to identify targets, leads and drug/diagnostic combinations for liver injury, metabolic disorders and cancer. Icoria's shares trade on the over the counter bulletin board. This press release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, Icoria's acquisition by Clinical Data, Inc., the Company's expectations for its healthcare based business model and its biomarker discovery platform. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, factors and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. These risks, factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Icoria's ability to identify biomarkers, early stage of development, history of net losses, technological and product development uncertainties, reliance on research collaborations, uncertainty of additional funding and ability to protect its patents and proprietary rights. Certain of these and other risks are identified in Icoria's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2005, March 31, 2005, as amended, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, both as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as may be required by law. DATASOURCE: Icoria, Inc. CONTACT: Media-Public Relations of Icoria, Inc., +1-919-425-2999 Web site: http://www.icoria.com/ http://www.clda.com/

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