Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 14, 2003 – – CompuCyte Corporation today announced the introduction of the iCys™ Research Imaging Cytometer, the latest advance in its line of imaging cytometers based on the Company’s patented LSC laser scanning cytometry technology.  The instrument is making its debut at the 94^th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, DC.

The iCys offers automated, highly flexible, and interactive analysis of cellular specimens in multiple formats, including microscope slides, various types of microtiter plates, and Petri dishes.  The new instrument retains the core strengths of the LSC technology—precise measurement of cellular DNA combined with multiple molecular markers and cell morphology.

The iCys couples this technology with the flexibility of an inverted research microscope, allowing such additional functionality as live cell experiments and micromanipulation of specimens.  Newly developed software adds capabilities that combine automated scanning and interactive analysis with more advanced image analysis algorithms.

The instrument is the third in the CompuCyte family of cytometers, joining the LSC^® Laser Scanning Cytometer and the iCyte™ Automated Imaging Cytometer.  

“This is CompuCyte’s second introduction of a new instrument platform in the last 12 months,” stated Elena Holden, MD, CompuCyte’s President and CEO.  “The product launch at this year’s meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research attracted significant attention from the large base of current users of our technology.  They were pleased to see that CompuCyte had incorporated so much of their feedback and ideas in the final design.”

 “Laser scanning cytometry has been one of the key technologies in our cancer research for several years,” remarked Dr. James F. Eliason, Associate Professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.  “The iCys represents a very positive advance for researchers, and the latest software developments are an especially attractive new tool for automated analysis of tissue and tissue arrays.”

“We are using the CompuCyte LSC instrument as a major research tool in our laboratory,” added Dr. Stanley Shackney, Professor of Human Oncology and Human Genetics at Drexel University and Director of Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology and Genetics at Allegheny-Singer General Hospital. “The iCys shows how companies can continually develop increasingly relevant tools that help to answer key questions facing biologists and cancer researchers today.”

“The iCys concept is another major step in the evolution of imaging cytometry,” added Elena Holden.  “We have attracted significant attention from research scientists at the AACR meeting, and are planning to begin shipping the first iCys units as early as August 2003.”

CompuCyte Corporation, a private company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a leader in the development of cellular analysis instrumentation and custom application and software development service for the life sciences industries.