GENEART Receives European Patent for Selective Evolution of Proteins

- European Patent Office grants patent titled "Verfahren für die
kontinuierliche, zielgerichtete Evolution von Proteinen in vitro"
("Method for carrying out the selective evolution of proteins in
vitro")
- A similar patent application for North America is pending
- The patent protects GENEART technology for the selected
identification of improved protein variants, i.e. for the development
of innovative drugs

Regensburg, January 20, 2009 - GENEART AG, global leader in gene
synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, informs
about patent EP 1913140 titled "Verfahren für die kontinuierliche,
zielgerichtete Evolution von Proteinen in vitro" ("Method for
carrying out the selective evolution of proteins in vitro") being
granted by the European Patent Office. The patent protects a
procedure for the selective identification of improved protein
variants (so-called "evolution") in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland,
Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands,
Sweden and Germany. The German patent of this family of patents had
been granted as early as 2007. An application for a comparable
protection for North America has been filed under the international
patent process.

The patent constitutes the basis for a proprietary technology
platform, which allows to significantly improve the efficiency and
activity of protein-based therapeutics, vaccines and industrial
enzymes. The new technology relies on a continuous one-step process
where the generation and screening of protein variants run virtually
simultaneously. The procedure allows identifying optimal variants of
a protein from a considerably larger pool much quicker than with
conventional multi-stage processes. Therefore, this procedure
increases the probability of identifying the ideal protein variant,
for example a strong-binding antibody for cancer therapy.

"We have reached another milestone for the extension of our
proprietary technology portfolio in the field of Gene Evolution by
being granted the European patent. It is our stated goal to not only
offer our customers gene variants and gene libraries for screening
experiments but, with the successful completion of this project, to
also deliver the improved protein over the mid-term", explained Prof.
Dr. Ralf Wagner, CEO of GENEART AG.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Bernd Merkl
GENEART AG
Josef-Engert-Str. 11
93053 Regensburg
Germany
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
www.geneart.com

Frank Ostermair
Better Orange IR & HV AG
Haidelweg 48
81241 Munich
Germany
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
www.better-orange.de

Legal Information
This document may contain estimates, prognoses and opinions about
company plans and objectives, products or services, future results,
opinions about these results or opinions leading up to these results.
All these projections into the future are subject to risk,
uncertainty and unforeseeable change outside the control of the
GENEART Group. Many factors may lead to actual results, which
considerably deviate from the given projections for these results.

About GENEART AG:
In 2000, GENEART entered the gene synthesis market and has since
become the global market leader. Today, the company is one of the
leading specialists in the Synthetic Biology field. Experts at
GENEART provide key technologies for the development and production
of new therapeutics and vaccines. Customers also take advantage of
GENEART services to customize enzyme attributes, such as the
attributes of enzymes used as detergent additives, and to construct
bacteria, which produce complex biopolymers or break down polymers,
such as synthetics, petroleum components, etc. Our production and
service spectrum spans a wide range, from the production of synthetic
genes according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000, to the creation of gene
libraries in the combinatorial biology, to the development and
production of DNA-based biologically active substances. GENEART AG in
Regensburg (Germany) and the subsidiaries GENEART Inc. in Toronto
(Canada) and GENEART Inc. in San Francisco (USA) employ more than 190
people. GENEART is listed on the German Stock Exchange.

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