Sarah Keegan
Headquarters, Washington, DC                 September 12, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1902)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-42

COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT EXPLORES USE OF NASA BIOTECHNOLOGY

    NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will announce on Thursday an 
unprecedented private sector investment in NASA biotechnology, 
which is expected to open the door to a new frontier in medical 
research. This unique licensing agreement may one day lead to new 
treatment options for patients who today face organ transplant 
surgery.

The research coming from this groundbreaking agreement may also 
offer other benefits, such as faster drug testing and approval, 
and the ability to fight dangerous diseases more effectively. The 
agreement for commercial use of NASA's Bioreactor technology will 
be signed by Goldin on Thursday, Sept. 14. 

This first-of-its-kind accord results from a three-year 
collaboration between NASA and a private venture capital company. 
The joint effort involved an extensive market-driven study of both 
what was technically possible and most likely to be commercially 
successful.

The signing will begin at 1 p.m. EDT Thursday in Room SC-6 of the 
U.S. Capitol Building. Representatives from the venture capital 
firm and a newly established biotech joint venture company, along 
with Goldin and others, will discuss the agreement and present a 
video explaining the Bioreactor technology and its potential.

Media representatives are invited to attend the signing.

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