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ApNano Materials Announces Nanotechnology-Based Medical Anti-Friction Coating

New York, NY | Posted on September 12, 2006

ApNano Materials, Inc. (www.apnano.com), a provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced an anti-friction medical coatings line, based on NanoLub – ApNano Material's nanotechnology-based solid lubricant. The medical friction-reduction coatings are intended to be used in a variety of medical applications such as guide-wires in catheters, which are used in invasive treatments such as cardiac catheterization, orthodontic wires and braces for teeth straightening, and coatings for artificial joints and hips.

"Frictionless inserts, such as guide-wires in catheters, can reduce pain, limit tissue damage and improve the accurateness and the success of medical procedures," said Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO of ApNano Materials. "In addition, the new medical coatings have the potential to significantly reduce friction in implants, such as artificial joints, extensively prolonging implant's life and preventing frequent repetitive operations."

"NanoLub was found to be non-toxic in a variety of tests performed by accredited independent testing laboratories, certified to be in complete compliance with international standards of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development)," said. Dr. Niles Fleischer, VP Business and Product Development, ApNano Materials. "The acute toxicity testing was done in full accordance with European Commission directives for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)."

NanoLub is based on revolutionary nanoparticles of tungsten disulfide, (WS2), termed inorganic fullerene-like nanostructures, or IF for short. Fullerenes are soccer ball-like clusters of atoms, named after R. Buckminster Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome that he designed for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition. The inorganic fullerenes were first discovered in breakthrough work in nanotechnology performed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, by a group headed by Professor Reshef Tenne, currently the Head of the Institute's Department of Materials and Interfaces. Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano Materials' President and CEO was a research fellow in the original research team which discovered the IF nanoparticles at the Weizmann Institute and first to synthesize the new material.

In research work conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Tenne and funded by ApNano Materials, composite coatings containing IF were developed. Tribological tests performed by Prof. Lev Rapoport of the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) demonstrated significantly reduced friction and wear of these self-lubricating coatings. In a work done in collaboration with Prof. Tenne by Drs. Meir Redlich and Alon Katz (both from the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Organization, Israel), the friction force of orthodontic wires coated with IF-WS2 nanoparticles embedded in metallic coatings showed more than 50% reduction in friction compared to non-coated wires.

According to Mr. Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO of ApNano Materials "ApNano Materials, after having initial very encouraging test results, is in advanced negotiations with leading medical device manufacturers worldwide, to integrate NanoLub in existing and future medical product lines."

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About ApNano Materials:
ApNano Materials (www.apnano.com) is a private nanotechnology company founded in 2002 by Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO and Mr. Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO. ApNano Materials was incorporated in the US and is headquartered in New York, USA. Its fully-owned Israeli subsidiary - NanoMaterials, Ltd., is located in the high tech science park adjacent to the Weizmann Institute campus in Ness Ziona, Israel. The company was granted an exclusive license by Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, to manufacture, commercialize and sell a new class of nanomaterials based on inorganic compounds that were discovered at the Institute. The shareholders of ApNano Materials, besides the founders, are Newton Technology VC Fund, Yeda Research and Development Co. LTD. (the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science), AYYT Technological Applications and Date Update LTD. (the commercial arm of Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), Israel), and private European investors.

NanoLub, a green, environmentally friendly material, is a trademark of ApNano Materials, Inc.

For more information, please click here.

Contact:
David Kanaan
Kanaan Public Relations
Tel.: +972-3-5408188
david@kanaan.co.il

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