PuraMatrix™ Hydrogels Win Prestigious R&D100 Life Science Award

Most significant nanobiotechnology product for life science & medicine

Boston, Mass. — July 8, 2004 3DM, Inc., a developer of synthetic biomaterials and medical devices, has been awarded the 42nd annual R&D100 Award, R&D Magazine's annual contest and one of the most coveted honors in applied research. The awards honor the 100 most technologically significant breakthrough products to impact society and are awarded by an independent panel of sixty judges.

"This recognition, only given to new products on the market rather than new technologies in a lab, marks a turning point for PuraMatrix from interesting technology into an important tool for life science research," said Dr. Shuguang Zhang, inventor of the technology and Associate Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Our mission is to ensure that PuraMatrix can benefit a broad array of medical research and eventual therapies."

"PuraMatrix is already the best-selling synthetic cell scaffold on the market," said Dr. Lisa Spirio, Director of Research & Development for 3DM Inc. "PuraMatrix is already enabling superior cell-based research, tissue engineering, drug testing and bioproduction of stem cells. The R&D100 award acknowledges our contributions to improving the process of drug discovery and the potential applications as a medical technology. We will share some exciting announcements about our medical applications later this Fall."

Over the years, the R&D 100 Awards have recognized winning products with such household names as Polacolor film (1963), the liquid crystal display (1980), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), and the lab on a chip (1996).

The award anticipates the launch of BD™ PuraMatrix™ with BD Biosciences, one of the leading suppliers of research tools to the life science industry, establishing 3DM's PuraMatrix line as an enabling nanobiotechnology tool for next generation drug discovery research, bioproduction and tissue engineering.

About PuraMatrix™

PuraMatrix Synthetic Peptide Hydrogels act as smart polymers, self-assembling in cell culture or in vivo as to create nanofiber scaffolds used in culturing cells for drug discovery and bioproduction. PuraMatrix is currently in animal testing for numerous medical device applications. PuraMatrix is in use at leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic laboratories and has been featured in over twenty premier journal publications.

PuraMatrix holds many advantages over current solutions:
* Synthetic and transparent yet biocompatible hydrogel composition composed of 99% water
* Cultures and supports attachment of a wide variety of cell & tissue types
* Supports hepatotoxicity, angiogenesis, cell migration, neural outgrowth assays
* Promotes differentiation of hepatocyte progenitor cells and other cell types
* Devoid of animal-derived components and pathogens
* Other potential applications include stem cell proliferation, tumor cell motility, angiogenesis assays, in vivo analyses of tissue regeneration
* Easily mixed with cells and/or bioactive molecules for creating highly defined culture environments

BD™ PuraMatrix™ is distributed exclusively through BD Biosciences. Product information can be found at http://www.bdbiosciences.com/discovery_labware/Products/tissue_engineering/PuraMatrix/ or by calling BD Biosciences at 1-800-343-2035.

PuraMatrix™ is forward compatible with in vivo implant studies and bioproduction requirements, and is already in use at major pharmaceutical companies and clinical research institutions. Other versions of PuraMatrix are compatible with cGMP quality requirements and clinical therapeutics and are available directly from 3DM Inc.

About 3DM Inc.

3DM is a privately-held venture capital-backed specialty biomaterials and medical device company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The patented technology, exclusively licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was pioneered through the work and expertise of Drs. Shuguang Zhang, Alan Grodzinsky, Robert Langer, Alexander Rich, Carlos Semino and Lisa Spirio.

Source:                  3DM Inc.

Contact:                 Zen Chu, President
                                contact@puramatrix.com 877-430-9595

Website:                www.PuraMatrix.com