May 1, 2006 – A Breakthrough For Second Leading Killer of Children Under Five – A Medical Food* for Acute Diarrhea

The results of a recent study show that adding Lactiva and Lysomin to oral rehydration solution helps to reduce the duration and recurrence of acute diarrhea in children.

San Francisco, CA – A new study showed that two proteins, Lactiva (recombinant human lactoferrin) and Lysomin (recombinant human lysozyme), helped to reduce the duration of acute diarrhea. Researchers also reported that the children who consumed Lactiva and Lysomin were less likely to suffer a recurrence of their diarrhea. Lactoferrin and Lysozyme are proteins naturally found in mother’s milk that are being developed by Ventria Bioscience as Lactiva and Lysomin.

The presentation titled “Efficacy of a rice-based ORS containing recombinant human lactoferrin and lysozyme in Peruvian children with acute diarrhea” was presented by Nelly Zavaleta, MD (Pediatrics) at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in San Francisco.

“What current oral rehydration solutions don’t have is a clear impact on cutting the duration or reducing the severity of acute diarrhea” said Nelly Zavaleta, M.D. “Our study found that adding Lactiva and Lysomin to the oral rehydration solution significantly reduced the duration of diarrhea and also reduced the rate of recurrence”.

“Acute diarrhea is the number-two infectious killer of children under the age of five”, said Delia Bethell, Ph.D., Vice President of Clinical Development, Ventria Bioscience. “We know that breast-fed children have a much lower incidence of diarrhea and other infections. So we worked with the Instituto Especializado de Salud del Niño (Children’s Hospital) and the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional (Nutrition Research Institute) in Lima, Peru as well as University of California, Davis to study the effects of adding Lactiva and Lysomin to oral rehydration solution”.

The clinical study was prospective, randomized and blinded, and evaluated 140 children who were admitted to the hospital suffering from acute diarrhea. Results showed that children who consumed oral rehydration solution with Lactiva and Lysomin (Lactiva/Lysomin ORS):

• Had 30% shorter duration of diarrhea. Specifically, children consuming Lactiva/Lysomin ORS were sick for 3.67 days on average, as compared to 5.21 days for children receiving ORS without Lactiva and Lysomin.

• Reached complete resolution of their diarrhea with much higher frequency than children receiving ORS without Lactiva and Lysomin. 85.1 percent of children who consumed Lactiva/Lysomin ORS recovered, while only 69.2 percent of the control group recovered.

• Were less likely to relapse into another episode of diarrhea. The percentage of children who relapsed after 48 hours without diarrhea was lower in the Lactiva/Lysomin ORS group than in the control group without Lactiva and Lysomin (8.5 percent compared to 18.7 percent).

Dr. William Greenough III, Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and a world-renowned expert in pediatric and geriatric diarrhea said “I am hoping that these might be the first improvements that would be widely added to oral hydration solutions, which are consumed by at least half of the world’s children”.

“Ventria believes that the addition of Lactiva and Lysomin to oral rehydration solutions may help improve the health of children suffering from diarrhea. This is especially important for children who are not currently breastfeeding,” said Scott Deeter, President and CEO, Ventria Bioscience.

*A Medical Food is a food administered under the supervision of a physician and intended for the specific dietary management of a disease for which distinctive nutritional requirements are established.

For more information, see our website at Ventria Bioscience
http://www.ventria.com

Or contact:
Ventria Bioscience
Info@Ventria.com
(916) 921-6148

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, recent changes in senior management, fluctuations in operating results, market conditions and changes in technology and increased competition.