Lydia Villa-Komaroff appointed Chief Executive Officer for Cytonome

Boston, Massachusetts, December 12, 2006 - Cytonome, Inc. today announced that Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Dr. John Gilbert, who founded Cytonome and has served as its CEO and President for the last 4 1/2 years stated “Cytonome is moving from R&D into clinical grade production and commercialization. Dr. Villa-Komaroff brings to Cytonome a strong record of public company and large institution operating expertise. She has the skills necessary to assure Cytonome’s success in enabling the cell based transplantation industry to move novel transplantation protocols to the clinic and the market.”

Dr. Villa-Komaroff was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transkaryotic Therapies until its acquisition by Shire in July 2005. Previously, she served as Vice President for Research of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and Chief Operating Officer of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Villa-Komaroff obtained a Ph.D. in molecular biology from M.I.T., postdoctoral training at Harvard University, and was for 20 years an active laboratory investigator at the University of Massachusetts and at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Villa-Komaroff said “John has successfully led Cytonome through the development of its unique clinical-grade cell sorter, and has assembled an outstanding management team. I am very excited at the opportunity to lead Cytonome as it introduces the Gigasort™ system to the clinical transplant and cell therapy markets. The Gigasort System will enable cell based therapies that have not been possible and will greatly expand the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of many diseases.”

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors of Cytonome, Chairman Alan Dworsky stated “Dr. Villa-Komaroff’s multifaceted management skills provide an excellent complement to the technical creativity and vision of Dr. Gilbert, who continues as CTO as Cytonome moves from the lab to the market. I look forward to great success as Cytonome moves forward under this team.”

About Cytonome

Cytonome, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets clinical grade optical cell sorting systems. Cytonome's Gigasort™ system is the only clinical-grade optical cell sorter that uses a sterile, disposable cartridge for precise and safe selection of discrete cell populations. Gigasort systems are designed to enable novel cellular therapies to move from laboratory to clinical trials and into scalable commercial manufacturing. Gigasort systems enable cell based therapy applications in oncology, autoimmune disease, tissue regeneration and tissue engineering.