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September 10, 2001

Therafuse Inc., to join Ardesta family of companies

New Company will Provide Drug Delivery to Diabetics

SAN DIEGO, CA and ANN ARBOR, MI., September 10, 2001-Ardesta LLC (www.ardesta.com) has made its eighth investment as the industry acceleratorÈ for small tech in TheraFuse Inc., (www.therafuse.com), a drug delivery system provider located in San Diego, Calif.

Using microelectromechanical (MEMS) technology, TheraFuse will develop a family of medication-specific drug delivery systems that will provide superior therapy in a user-friendly form at a competitive price. Its initial product will focus on delivering insulin to diabetics.

The TheraFusorÉ will be roughly the size and thickness of a silver dollar and will be held in place on the skin by an adhesive. A disposable component contains insulin and microneedles. Snapping into that is a reusable unit that contains the logic, metering and communication circuits. By use of a proprietary metering system, the TheraFusor will automatically deliver the correct insulin dose.

"We made the decision to invest in TheraFuse because it represents the kind of small tech product that will change the world of medicine,"said Rick Snyder, Ardesta CEO. "The TheraFusorÈ will offer diabetics a solution that gives them proper blood sugar monitoring with convenient insulin delivery via the patch."

TheraFuse has an elite trio of founders who are serving as its leadership team. They include Burton Sage as chief executive officer; Dr. Albert Pisano as chief operating officer and Dr. Dorian Liepmann as chief technology officer. Sage currently serves as executive director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center and has more than 30 years of experience in the medical device industry. The last 15 years of his career were at Becton Dickinson with a focus on diabetes.

Dr. Albert Pisano is the FANUC professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley specializing in MEMS and has recently been appointed director of the Electronics Research Laboratory, a $50 million per year research group in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Dr. Dorian Liepmann is vice chair of undergraduate affairs, department of bioengineering, and the Lester John and Lynne Dewar Lloyd distinquished professor of bioengineering at University of California at Berkeley, specializing in microfluidics. Liepmann also serves as a director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center.

"The Diabetes Complications and Control Trials showed conclusively that better glucose control dramatically reduces diabetes complications and that insulin pumps provide better glucose control," said Sage. "The TheraFusorÉ provides the performance of a pump with the convenience of a patch so that people with diabetes can achieve better glucose control."

About Ardesta LLC

Located in Ann Arbor, Mich., Ardesta is an industry acceleratorÈ dedicated to the development of microsystems and other small technologies. The company invests in start-ups and early stage companies; provides business and technical resources to support these companies; and develops industry-building resources. The company's Web site is www.ardesta.com. The other companies in Ardesta's family include Discera, Sensicore, Translume and HandyLab of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Ion Optics of Waltham, Mass.; Micronics of Redmond, Wash.; and Sarcon Microsystems of Knoxville, Tenn.