Call to Increase Screening for "Pre-Diabetes" Finds Many in Healthcare Already Prepared With New ToolsBioSignia Inc. Sees a Spike in Interest for its Synthesis Analysis Technology

Research Triangle Park, N.C., (April 12, 2002) - While U.S. health officials exhort doctors to step up screening for diabetes in the face of a looming epidemic of the disease, many physicians and healthcare professionals have already adopted a highly sophisticated diagnostics technology that pinpoints an individual's risk of developing the disease, when they'll get it, and what they can do to prevent it.

"We've seen a growing trend among doctors and wellness clinic operators who see our technology as a real advantage for their patients," said Tim Smith, president and CEO of BioSignia Inc., a North Carolina-based bioinformatics company that has commercialized Synthesis Analysis technology into a clinically-based, risk analysis program known as Know Your Number. "The clear need to increase screening to avert diabetes is clearly expected to reinforce this trend."

Last week Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced new guidelines aimed at identifying people likely to develop type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. New census data show a growing number of Americans with diabetes - about 17 million with the disease and some 16 million likely to get it but don't necessarily know it. If detected early, health officials say, diabetes can be controlled.

In North Carolina, Rex Wellness Centers, part of Rex Healthcare, plans to offer Know Your Number to its members, Rex Hospital employees and to employers in Raleigh and Cary. Rex Wellness Centers have facilities in both Raleigh and in Cary, NC.

NaturalMedline, a healthcare and wellness professional services company, is implementing Know Your Number among its network of employers, physicians and individuals. The Fitness Forum, a Syracuse, NY company that provides physical therapy, medical and wellness services from 25 centers in six states, recently implemented Know Your Number.

Dr. Thomas Barnard, a family physician in Ontario, Canada, uses Know Your Number "to assist in better understanding a patient's true risk of chronic disease development and to help make more informed decisions about medical and lifestyle interventions."

The Wellness Center in Johnson City, TN, part of the Mountain State Health Alliance hospital system, began using BioSignia's technology in January with area employers and provides it as a benefit to its members.
Late last year, MedFit Wellness Center, a state-of-the-art medical wellness facility headed by internist Dr. James Clark in Charlottesville, VA, launched the Know Your Number program for its patients and now implements the program with local employers.

BioSignia has established a significant Know Your Number program in the People's Republic of China, and health officials there are considering a proposal to standardize the program more broadly throughout public health. In the U.S., major insurance companies also are looking at the implications the predictive modeling technology might have on underwriting practices.

BioSignia, Inc. pioneered evidence-based technology for assessing, at the individual level, the likelihood of onset of specific diseases such as stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. BioSignia's patented technology platform - Synthesis Analysis -- provides a precise predictive profile of an individual's risk based on the individual's unique biological chemistry and medical history, and illustrates how much his or her risk can be lowered.