PuraMatrix Hydrogels Win Biomaterial Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine Awards - News Item

3DM, Inc. today announced that it's PuraMatrix line of synthetic hydrogels was awarded the annual Excellence in Technology Award in the field of Biomaterial Technology by Frost & Sullivan, a leading technology market research firm. In addition, 3DM co- founders Drs. Shuguang Zhang and Carlos Semino, have each received awards for outstanding contributions to the fields of materials science and cell biology by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and the 2003 World Congress on Regenerative Medicine, respectively.

"PuraMatrix is beginning to prove its value across a number of applications in orthopedic medical devices, tissue engineering and stem cell regenerative medicine," stated Dr. Alan Grodzinsky, Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "These awards recognize the pioneering work of Drs. Zhang, Semino and others who are furthering work on these elegantly simple biomaterials."

Dr. Robert Langer, one of the world's foremost experts on biomaterials and tissue engineering and Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at MIT, emphasized "Through the impressive work of Shuguang Zhang and his colleagues, PuraMatrix is finding more and more novel uses in biology and bioengineering."

Frost & Sullivan, a leading technology market research firm, has awarded PuraMatrix its annual Excellence in Technology Award in the field of Biomaterial Technology. As detailed in their newly released Advanced in Biomaterials research report, PuraMatrix has become widely accepted by the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device communities to create defined 3-D cell cultures and cell-based assays. PuraMatrix serves as a synthetic biodegradable alternative to animal-derived biomaterials such as bovine collagen. The report also details trends in medical nanofibers, biopolymers and medical device coatings.

Posted 2^nd March 2004