U.S. Patent Office Provides Notice of Allowance for Hythiam Patent Application for the Treatment of Cocaine Dependency

Business Wire, Dec 14, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Hythiam, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYTM), a healthcare services management company that licenses the PROMETA([R])treatment protocols designed to treat alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine dependence, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has mailed a Notice of Allowance for Hythiam's U.S. Patent Application No. 10/622,068 which contains claims using a composition of matter for the treatment of cocaine dependency. The patent will serve to enhance protection of the intellectual property underlying the company's PROMETA Protocols.

"This, our first new patent allowance in the U.S., represents a significant corporate milestone and we anticipate it will accelerate adoption of our PROMETA protocols," said Terren Peizer, Hythiam's Chairman and CEO. "Since the filing of these initial patents, our understanding of the specific pathology that may be addressed by PROMETA has grown significantly as has our intellectual property portfolio. We are excited at in vitro and animal studies that will be presented at conferences or published in peer-reviewed journals in the near-term, that will further elucidate the mechanism of action underlying PROMETA at a cellular level. Furthermore, these findings will assist us in increasing the adoption of PROMETA for substance dependence, as well as other potential behavioral indications."

About PROMETA[R]

Hythiam's PROMETA([R])treatment protocols are designed for use by healthcare providers seeking to treat individuals diagnosed with dependencies to alcohol, cocaine or methamphetamine, as well as combinations of these drugs. The PROMETA treatment protocols comprise nutritional supplements, FDA-approved oral and IV medications used off-label and separately administered in a unique dosing algorithm, as well as psychosocial or other recovery-oriented therapy chosen by the patient and his or her treatment provider. As a result, PROMETA represents an innovative approach to managing alcohol, cocaine, or methamphetamine dependence that is designed to address physiological, nutritional, and psychosocial aspects of the disease, and is thereby intended to offer patients an opportunity to achieve sustained recovery. To learn more, please visit www.prometainfo.com.

About Hythiam, Inc.

Hythiam([R]) is a healthcare services management company focused on delivering solutions for those suffering from alcoholism and other substance dependencies. Hythiam researches, develops, licenses and commercializes innovative physiological, nutritional, and behavioral treatment protocols that seek to address substance dependence. Additionally, Hythiam provides proprietary administrative services to assist physicians and facilities with staff education, training, marketing and outreach support, and outcomes tracking for data analysis. For further information, please click on www.hythiam.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history and lack of statistically significant formal research studies, the risk that treatment protocols might not be effective, difficulty in developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, intense competition and substantial regulation in the healthcare industry; and additional risks factors as discussed in the reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov.