Divergence - The Nematode Genomics Company

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Divergence Receives $461,021 SBIR Grant; Adds Member to Scientific Advisory Board

St. Louis (February 12, 2004) - Divergence, Inc. announced that it has been awarded $461,021 in a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research ("SBIR") grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant is for a two-year project entitled "Nematode Intestinal Proteins as Anthelmintic Targets" and is the fifth SBIR grant that Divergence has received. Michelle Coutu Hresko, Ph.D., Senior Director of Discovery Research at Divergence, is the Project's principle investigator.

"This award from NSF will support Divergence's continuing efforts to identify and inhibit essential intestinal genes of parasitic nematodes," said President and Chief Scientific Officer James P. McCarter, M.D., Ph.D. "We believe this project offers excellent promise in our development of both plant protection and animal health products for the prevention and control of parasitic infections."

Divergence also announced that Wilfred van der Donk, Ph.D. has joined the Scientific Advisory Board of Divergence. Dr. van der Donk is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in the areas of bioorganic and organometallic chemistry and include catalytic mechanisms of enzymes and their inhibition. Dr. van der Donk joins the following individuals as members of the Scientific Advisory Board: Sean Eddy, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board), Howard Hughes Medical Institute Assistant Investigator and the Alvin Goldfarb Distinguished Professor of Computational Biology in the Department of Genetics at the Washington University School of Medicine; David Bird, Ph.D., Co-Director of The Center for the Biology of Nematode Parasitism, a joint academic-industry center located in North Carolina, and an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University; Ernest Jaworski, Ph.D., retired Director of Plant Biotechnology at Monsanto Company; Craig Mello, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Assistant Investigator and Professor in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts; Gil Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics and Public Health at the University of Michigan and President-Elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Tim Schedl, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Divergence is fortunate to have a group of scientific leaders helping set the company's direction," said McCarter. "We believe that we have assembled a team of scientists with complementary strengths but uniformly high standards to ensure that Divergence is realizing its full scientific potential." Divergence is a research and development company dedicated to the discovery of effective and ecologically sound strategies for the control of parasites and other pests. The company's initial focus is on parasitic nematodes, one of the world's major pest groups. Nematodes are roundworms that cause billions of dollars in damage annually to numerous crops, including soybeans, cotton, strawberries, and bananas. Nematodes also cause widespread disease in animals, including infections such as heartworm in dogs and cats and intestinal worms in livestock. Nematode-induced human diseases include elephantiasis and African river blindness.

For more information on Divergence, visit www.divergence.com.