Sontra Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: SONT) and The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Limited (HortResearch) announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to evaluate the use of the SonoPrep skin permeation device for sports performance monitoring.

Sontra also granted HortResearch a one-year option to obtain an exclusive, worldwide license to Sontra's SonoPrep skin permeation technology for the sports performance field. If HortResearch elects to license the technology, Sontra will receive a license fee consisting of a $500,000 cash payment and equity worth $500,000 in a new company that HortResearch will form to develop and commercialize the technology.

SonoPrep is a small, battery-powered device that works by applying low-frequency ultrasonic energy to the skin. The sounds waves open small cavities in the skin by disorganizing the lipid bi-layer, creating tiny, reversible channels through which fluids can be extracted and delivered. The skin goes back to its normal state within 24 hours.

Currently marketed by Sontra Medical for accelerating delivery of topical anesthetics, SonoPrep is also the subject of clinical research in glucose monitoring and enhancing delivery of vaccines.

HortResearch and Sontra will evaluate the device for sports performance monitoring by extracting tiny samples of fluid from beneath the skin of top athletes.

This interstitial fluid contains biochemical markers that provide detailed information on how an athlete's body is responding to training, competition, injury and post-activity recuperation.

HortResearch has studied these markers since 1999, and works with some of Australasia's top professional sports teams, including the Emirates Team
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Contact: Joan Kureczka
jkureczka@comcast.net
415-821-2413
Kureczka/Martin Associates
22-Nov-2005