THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY PIONEERS 2007: STRAND SELECTED

Bangalore [December 04, 2006] -

The World Economic Forum today announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007. strand Life Sciences has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. The Technology Pioneers were nominated by the world’s leading venture capital and technology companies. The final selection from 225 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum. Technology Pioneers 2007 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland from 24-28 January 2007.

Strand Life Sciences is an Indian technology company that develops computer-based solutions that aid in the discovery and development of biological targets and new drugs. The company’s award winning data mining platform avadis^TM (Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology Award 2005) has been used to develop a variety of applications in research biology and discovery chemistry. avadis^TM offers powerful visualization tools, machine learning algorithms and enterprise infrastructure architected to run on multiple computing platforms. Ease of use has been a hallmark in the application of avadis^TM through the creative use of click-through workflows. In addition to avadis^TM, Strand has delivered advanced solutions in text mining, image analysis and compound library design.

"This recognition by the World Economic Forum has enhanced Strand's image as a global pioneer in the field of life sciences informatics," said Dr. Vijay Chandru, Co-founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Strand. "Strand is an early example of the new wave of information technology products companies from India that are making a mark in global markets," he added.

Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year’s class of companies has been selected not only because of the cutting-edge work undertaken by these organizations, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.

The companies’ products include microscopic pill cameras, bio sensors that localize landmines, implantable medical devices for the treatment of brain tumours, mobile television service, blog search engines, open source webrowsers, video headsets, thin-film diamond coatings, solar air-conditioner equipment, paper batteries for music-playing greeting cards, and even an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy.

Over half (27) of the Technology Pioneers 2007 are US-based companies, with 13 located in California. The United Kingdom boasts six Technology Pioneers 2007; the Netherlands, India, Israel and Singapore boast two each; Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland have one each.

"The competition to become a Technology Pioneer has been more intense than ever. It is evident that technology and innovation is playing a key role in the shifting power equation at a global level. Driving this shift is the tremendous amount of innovation taking place outside of traditionally hubs. The wide geographic spread of this year’s Technology Pioneers is a testament to this trend. We are pleased to welcome these exciting companies to our Community of Technology Pioneers, and look forward to engaging these industry leaders of the future into the community of the World Economic Forum", said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.

To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers have included Autonomy, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Encore Software, Google, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Napster.

Go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies.

The selection criteria include:

1) Innovation. The company’s technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The innovation should be recent - not more than two years old. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
2) Potential Impact. This company’s technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
3) Growth and Sustainability. The company should have all the signs of being a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
4) Proof of Concept. The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in "stealth" mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
5) Leadership. The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
6) Status. The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company - thus wholly-owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.

About Strand Life Sciences Pvt Ltd

Strand Life Sciences is a premier in silico technologies innovation company focused on developing technologies for drug discovery and development. Strand has three streams of business spanning early target discovery through pre-clinical development. The first is centred on informatics tools and solutions for the research biologist with a focus on visualization and analytics for array technologies and including oligo design, image analysis and information management systems. A second stream of products include a cheminformatics modeling platform admetis and proprietary in silico predictive models for small molecule drug properties like ADME and Cardiotoxicity with models for Hepatotoxicity in the pipeline. Strand also partners with discovery contract research companies to combine in silico and wet labs to offer services starting from compound library design to lead generation. Please visit www.strandls.com for more information.

About World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and social progress. The Forum serves its members and society by creating partnerships between and among business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society to define, discuss and advance key issues on the global agenda. Incorporated in 1971 as a foundation, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit, and is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. In 1995 the Forum was awarded NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations..

Note to Editors

Please go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies. For more specific information, please e-mail: tech.pioneers@weforum.org

Download print-quality high resolution photographs of the CEOs of the selected companies at:
www.pbase.com/forumweb/techpioneers2007

Nominate a company to be a Technology Pioneer 2008 at:
www.weforum.org/pdf/techpioneers/nomination_form_2008.pdf . Deadline for submissions is May 2007.

Contact Strand Life Sciences -
Radhika Choudary,
Director (Corporate Affairs)
India Office - Tel: +91-80-2361-8992
E-mail: radhika@strandls.com