Stuttgart, Germany, and Plant City, Florida, November 12, 1999.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) and UTEK Corporation, announce the formation of a strategic alliance to merchandise select Fraunhofer IGB inventions. Under the terms of the alliance, UTEK will seek to find corporate partners for new technologies developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.

According to Dr. Uwe Reischl, UTEK's President, »We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Fraunhofer IGB in bringing world-class inventions to the marketplace. The Institute is a major source of new technology not only in Germany but also throughout Europe. We believe that we can help build a bridge between Fraunhofer Institute inventions and technology corporations.«

Prof. Dr. Herwig Brunner, Managing Director of the Fraunhofer IGB in Stuttgart, Germany, explained: »We are very pleased to move forward in this relationship with UTEK. UTEK's experience in working with major US universities and research laboratories in bringing intellectual properties to corporate partners, as well as their European presence, makes UTEK a very attractive marketing partner for us. We seek to bring our inventions to the global marketplace.«

UTEK CORPORATION is a leading international technology merchant that acquires and finances university-base intellectual capital for public technology firms.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a major non-profit research and development organization in Germany. Its current 47 research establishments undertake contract research on behalf of industry, the service sector and government. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) is focusing on topics such as biotechnology, cell engineering, environmental and bioengineering, and interface and membrane technologies.