HistoRx Names John Tonkinson, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development

—Senior Executive will Drive Partnering Efforts to Advance Development of New Class of In Vitro Companion Diagnostics —
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 18, 2006 – HistoRx, Inc. announced today that John L. Tonkinson, Ph.D. has been appointed to Vice President, Business Development. HistoRx is developing and commercializing a new generation of companion diagnostics, which will initially be focused on breast cancer.  Dr. Tonkinson will oversee HistoRx’s growing number of alliances with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.  Additionally, he will drive new business development activities to support commercialization of HistoRx’s proprietary companion diagnostics and expand application of the company’s AQUA® platform, a quantitative pathology technology applicable throughout all stages of discovery and development.

Dr. Tonkinson brings to HistoRx more than 10 years of biotechnology research and business development expertise that includes advancing the development of product, establishing start-up companies, developing growth strategies, managing sales forces, establishing business models, and negotiating and managing research and business partnerships with multinational companies.

“HistoRx has a strong and compelling business strategy that is focused on building a leading clinical diagnostics products company, powered by a near-term revenue-generating services operation,” commented Dr. John Tonkinson. “Industry uptake of the AQUA® technology has been exceptionally swift, and I am excited to join the HistoRx team and to explore multiple opportunities to build its business and value for patients, partners, and investors.

Robert. A. Curtis, Pharm.D., president and CEO of HistoRx, continued by saying, “Having entered into 20 different R&D collaborations with 10 top-tier companies over the last 18 months, this is a strategic time for John to join the company.  His broad research, strategic business development, and general management experience – both with large biotech and earlier-stage life sciences companies undergoing rapid growth – is critical to HistoRx’s expanding business development needs.”

Dr. Tonkinson’s experience in research and business development positions in the bioscience industry spans more than 10 years. Most recently, Dr. Tonkinson was director of Business Development at Epitome BioSystems, Inc., where he was responsible for commercial and business development activities. During his tenure, he executed licensing and service agreements and established a business model to capture near-term revenue while building long-term value.

Prior to joining Epitome, Dr. Tonkinson held a series of ascendant sales and marketing management positions at Schleicher & Schuell BioScience, Inc., culminating in director of Sales and Scientific Services, with responsibility for North American corporate sales and focused worldwide growth. Under his leadership, Schleicher & Schuell’s targeted microarray product business grew 100% the first year. While at Schleicher & Schuell, he played a key role in developing the company’s line of protein microchips.

Dr. Tonkinson holds Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia). He completed his post-doctoral training at Eli Lilly.

About HistoRx
HistoRx, Inc. is developing and commercializing a new generation of predictive companion diagnostic tests [for breast cancer and other diseases] that are essential to the growing use of targeted drug therapies. The company’s proprietary AQUA® tissue analysis platform, which the company developed from technology pioneered at the Yale University School of Medicine enables the realization of personalized medicine by rapidly and reliably identifying and validating biomarkers and translating them into practical clinical applications. HistoRx is entering into numerous collaborations with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to use its AQUA® technology, while selectively licensing its technologies to leading academic and not-for-profit research institutions. Simultaneously, the company is developing its own series of improved diagnostic tests, and in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners, a portfolio of proprietary, FDA-approved companion diagnostics that are linked to drugs in development.  For more information, please visit www.historx.com .