UTEK Announces Technology Transfer to Industrial Biotechnology Corporation; Transfer Contains License for the Bioproduction of Fine Chemicals

Business Wire, Nov 17, 2005

SARASOTA & PLANT CITY, Fla. -- Industrial Biotechnology Corporation (Pink Sheets:IBTY), a company that commercializes technologies that enable the biological production of chemicals, and UTEK Corporation (AMEX:UTK) (LSE-AIM:UTKA), an innovative technology transfer company, announced today that Industrial Biotechnology Corp. (IBC) has acquired Advanced Bioscience, Inc. ("ABI"), a wholly owned subsidiary of UTEK Corporation, in a stock transaction.

ABI holds the exclusive license to designed biochemical pathways, which produce hydrocarbon substrates for use in the manufacturing of specialty chemicals such as flavors and fragrances. The technology was developed at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and utilizes bioprocesses in which microbial enzymes are recruited to naturally produce chemicals.

"We believe, that this technology may enable IBC to produce large quantities of high purity compounds more economically at an overall lower cost," said David West, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Industrial Biotechnology Corporation.

"IBC should be able to naturally produce chemicals that, until now, required complex and costly organic chemistry methodologies," said Dr. Seiichi Matsuda, lead inventor of the technology at Rice University.

"UTEK is pleased to consummate this technology transfer with IBC and we look forward to continuing our efforts to provide additional technology acquisition opportunities for their consideration," says Jeff Bleil, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer of UTEK Corporation.

About Industrial Biotechnology Corporation

Industrial Biotechnology Corporation (IBC) commercializes proprietary technologies and intellectual property in the emerging field of biologically produced chemicals. We believe these technologies enable IBC to more efficiently manufacture high value chemicals at significantly lower costs, with a substantially lower environmental impact than traditional methods, and with a higher purity. Through licensing, partnerships, and direct sales via multiple distribution channels to several industries, IBC intends to bring to market new and established chemicals that are in high demand for use in flavors and fragrances, fine chemicals, pharmaceutical, agricultural, environmental and bio-energy applications. IBC's pioneering and state-of-the-art biological production methods can replace large manufacturing facilities, many of which employ hazardous processes, and toxic materials in their chemical production. These innovative methods involve fewer production steps, and through the use of "designer" enzymes and proprietary production systems, may enable IBC to produce greater yields of high-purity, natural compounds at significantly lower costs. We believe these processes can be readily scaled-up to large, commercial production levels. IBC's core intellectual property utilizes patented technologies exclusively licensed from Rice University and the University of Oxford. These technologies enable the biological production of over 15,000 commercially available chemicals, many of which are used in the flavor and fragrance industry. The company has assembled a team of leading scientists, management and industry leaders to implement these new technologies. IBC has a comprehensive technology and licensing acquisition strategy, and will seek to establish research and development partnerships with leading universities and corporations in the industrial biotechnology field to develop commercially viable biological-based solutions and related intellectual property patents. For more information about Industrial Biotechnology Corporation, please visit its website at http://www.industrialbiotechnology.com

About Rice University

Rice University, located in Houston, Texas, is consistently ranked one of America's best teaching and research universities. It is distinguished by its: size -- 2,850 undergraduates and 1,950 graduate students; selectivity -- 10 applicants for each place in the freshman class; resources -- an undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5-to-1, and the fifth largest endowment per student among American universities; residential college system, which builds communities that are both close-knit and diverse; and collaborative culture, which crosses disciplines, integrates teaching and research, and intermingles undergraduate and graduate work. For more information about Rice University, please visit its website at http://www.rice.edu.

About UTEK(R) Corporation

UTEK(R) is a leading, market-driven technology transfer company that enables companies to rapidly acquire innovative technologies from universities and research laboratories worldwide. UTEK facilitates the identification and then finances the acquisition of external technologies for clients in exchange for their equity securities. This unique process is called U2B(R). In addition to its U2B(R) service, UTEK offers both large and small capitalization companies the tools to search, analyze and manage university intellectual properties. UTEK has operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. For more information about UTEK, please visit its website at http://www.utekcorp.com.