GNSC Genaissance Pharmaceuticals (MM)

Genaissance to Provide Pharmacogenetic Support to INC Research, Its First CRO Partner NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNSC) announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with INC Research(R), a global therapeutically specialized contract research organization (CRO) focused on oncology, pediatrics and central nervous system (CNS) clinical research. Under terms of the agreement, Genaissance, a leading developer and user of genetic information to help guide medical therapy, will provide pharmacogenetic clinical development services to clients of INC Research. With global headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, INC Research manages international drug development for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies from its five North American facilities and twelve facilities located throughout Western, Eastern and Central Europe. As part of a plan to expand the market opportunities for its current pharmacogenetics service offering, Genaissance selected INC Research as its first CRO partner. Genaissance's technology has been utilized by more than two-thirds of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in support of over 550 clinical trials. Since the issuance by the U.S. FDA in March 2005 of the Guidance for Industry, Pharmacogenomic Data Submissions, industry interest in the technology has been increasing. "Our clinical services business provides customers a turn-key means of adding world-class pharmacogenetic technology to their drug development programs, while at the same time eliminating capital investment and learning curves for the organization," notes Kevin Rakin, President and CEO of Genaissance. Genaissance's pharmacogenetic services span the entire drug development process and range from strategy formulation, to logistical management of samples and data, to identification of biomarkers of drug response. Laboratory services include sample management, DNA extraction and purification, DNA and tissue storage and banking, and genotyping and sequencing on multiple platforms. "By utilizing the pharmacogenetic expertise represented by Genaissance, the potential benefit to our customers is improvement in the process of drug discovery, development and regulation," stated Jim Ogle, CEO of INC Research. "INC Research is pleased to collaborate with Genaissance to provide further enhancements to our full service offering." About INC Research INC Research (http://www.incresearch.com/) is a large, therapeutically specialized contract research organization focused on managing CNS, oncology and pediatric clinical trials. For over two decades the company has been dedicated to managing all aspects of global clinical development programs for pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers developing treatments in these highly complex areas of research. Through its DataSpectrum division, INC Research provides a full range of data management, statistical analysis and medical writing services to support global drug development requirements for any therapeutic area. INC Research has offices in North America and Western, Eastern and Central Europe. About Genaissance Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing innovative products based on its proprietary pharmacogenomic technology and has a revenue-generating business in DNA and pharmacogenomic products and services. Genaissance also markets its proprietary FAMILION(TM) Test, designed to detect mutations responsible for causing Familial Long QT and Brugada Syndromes, two causes of sudden cardiac death. The Company's product development strategy is focused on drug candidates with promising clinical profiles and finding genetic markers to identify a responsive patient population. This strategy enables Genaissance to leverage existing clinical data and, thus, reduce the costs and risks associated with traditional drug development and increase the probability of clinical success and commercialization. The Company's lead therapeutic product, vilazodone for depression, is in Phase II of development. For more information on Genaissance, visit the Company's website at: http://www.genaissance.com/. This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the expected growth and development of Genaissance's business, such as Genaissance's efforts to build a drug candidate pipeline, the timing and outcome of its genetic testing programs, the ability of Genaissance to apply its technologies to the development, marketing and prescribing of drugs and Genaissance's ability to detect associations between clinical outcomes and genetic variation. Such statements are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in such statements, including, but not limited to, the extent to which genetic markers (haplotypes) are predictive of clinical outcomes and drug efficacy and safety, the attraction of new business and strategic partners including CROs, the adoption of our technologies by the pharmaceutical industry, the acceptance of our cardiac tests by health care providers, the timing and success of clinical trials, competition from pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics companies, the strength of our intellectual property rights and those risks identified in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5, 2005, and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of Genaissance as of the date of this release. Genaissance disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement. DATASOURCE: Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT: Carol R. Reed, MD, Vice President, Medical Affairs of Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-203-786-3617, or ; or Rhonda Chiger (investors) of Rx Communications, +1-917-322-2569, or ; or Trisha Vonder Reith, Executive Director, Corporate Communications of INC Research, +1-858-597-6418, or ; or Tom Redington (media) of Redington, Inc., +1-203-222-7399, or +1-212-926-1733, or Web site: http://www.genaissance.com/ http://www.incresearch.com/

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