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PORTLAND, Maine — June 6, 2001 — ImmuCell Corporation (NASDAQ/ICCC) today announced that it has been awarded a one year grant aggregating $196,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to augment the Company’s development of its Nisin-based mastitis treatment, Mast Out. Funded under the Small Business Innovation Research Program at the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), this award supports a significant portion of the costs related to conducting the clinical trials required to obtain FDA approval of the product application for lactating cows. “This NIH award recognizes the important potential of our technology to curb the growth of antimicrobial resistance and enables us to aggressively accelerate the development of the product,” commented Dr. Richard T. Coughlin, senior director of research and development. “This product, which is subject to FDA approval, could fit very well with our growing line of products aimed at improving animal health and productivity in the dairy and beef industry.” Additionally, the Company recently was awarded a $70,000 grant over eighteen months from the United States Department of Agriculture to fund a portion of the expenses related to clinical trials of a dry cow application of this technology. In March 2001, the Company announced that it had been awarded up to $400,000 in funding over two years from the Maine Technology Institute. This grant award carries a contingent pay back obligation. Within two years of product commercialization, the Company may elect to pay back the grant amount or alternatively it may elect to pay a 2% royalty on sales until the accumulated royalty paid aggregates two times the grant amount. Currently, this grant funding is being accounted for as deferred revenue. If the product supported by this grant is not commercialized, there would be no pay back obligation. Therefore, the deferred revenue would be recognized as grant income at that time. Estimated losses to the U.S. dairy industry associated with mastitis are thought to range from $1 to 2 Billion per year. If successfully developed and commercialized, the Company believes that Mast Out; could be the first non-antibiotic product approved for the treatment of mastitis (inflammation of the mammary gland). The U.S. mastitis treatment market is estimated to be worth at least $20,000,000 per year for lactating cows. The Company believes the dry cow application may represent a similar sized market opportunity. The treatment of bovine mastitis with a Nisin-based product could help address the growing concern about the overuse of antibiotics in food animals.
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