STATE OF ARIZONA                                                                       NEWS RELEASE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE                                                                        FOR MORE INFORMATION
GOVERNOR                                                                                   CONTACT: PRESS OFFICE
WWW.AZGOVERNOR.GOV                                                                (602) 542-1342

PROVISTA LIFE SCIENCES RECEIVES ARIZONA INNOVATION AWARD
Governor Recognizes Leadership in Medical Diagnostics

PHOENIX – Governor Napolitano today presented an Arizona Innovation Award to Provista Life Sciences LLC, a Phoenix-based health care management organization that oversees projects focused on disease diagnostics.

“In order to compete in the global economy, we must innovate,” the Governor said. “Provista is a leader in medical diagnostics. It is developing blood tests that are changing the face of modern medicine, and giving doctors and families more treatment options to extend patients' quality of life.”

Provista serves as a link between universities, clinical trials and diagnostic laboratories. It seeks out new technologies, shepherds them through the legal and government approval process and brings the products to market.

Two new products, a blood test that can diagnose breast cancer and a test to diagnose several estrogen-related cancers, such as uterine, cervical and ovarian, are expected to be available this fall. This is significant because there is no other reliable method of detecting ovarian cancer early on, which is more often fatal than not.

In 2008, Provista is expected to make available a third blood test, which can diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease in the beginning stages. Because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, timely diagnosis is key to early treatment and extending patient’s quality of life.

William Gartner, Provista’s President and CEO, accepted the award on behalf of Provista Life Sciences. Following the presentation, the Governor toured Provista’s facilities.

Governor Napolitano is current chair of the National Governors Association, and has spearheaded Innovation America as her signature initiative. Innovation America focuses on improving states’ abilities to compete in the global economy by modernizing our education systems with increased science, technology, engineering and math, enabling post-secondary education to better support innovation, and creating a more knowledge and technology focused business climate. For more information, visit www.nga.org.

Governor Napolitano’s Arizona Innovation Awards are a program geared toward recognizing Arizona’s innovators. A description and criteria are available at www.azcommerce.com. The public and business and education communities are encouraged to submit nominations online.

For more information about the Office of the Governor, visit www.azgovernor.gov.

-30-