• Primary product line sold to Roche Diagnostics
• Asset sale marks successful partial exit for Nanostart
• Nanostart anticipates distribution of cash proceeds in second quarter

Frankfurt / Salt Lake City / Basel – March 12, 2010 – BioMicro Systems, Inc., a portfolio company of Nanostart AG, has sold its primary product, the entire MAUI line of diagnostic systems, to world market leader Roche Diagnostics (SIX: RO, ROG / OTCQX: RHHBY) in an asset sale transaction.

Details of the purchase price are bound by a confidentiality agreement. Nanostart will invest the distributed proceeds from the transaction into new nanotechnology-based opportunities.
“Nanostart recognized the great potential of BioMicro at an early stage. We are delighted at this point to see its MAUI product line being successfully sold to Roche, the world’s largest biotechnology company. Nanostart anticipates receiving the cash distribution from this transaction in the second quarter,” explained Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann.

With the purchase of these assets, Roche Diagnostics gains complete control over the entire MAUI workflow. Production will be incorporated into its in-house manufacturing facilities. “The acquired products are integral to the high quality data the NimbleGen array workflow provides researchers worldwide,” noted Dr. Andreas Görtz, VP of marketing at Roche NimbleGen.

The MAUI system makes use of sophisticated biochips to perform DNA analysis. So far, more than 1,100 MAUI systems have been sold to customers around the world. These users include leading pharmaceutical companies and research institutions worldwide, including renowned universities such as Stanford and Harvard Medical School.

About Nanostart:
Nanostart AG is the world’s leading nanotechnology investment company. The Frankfurt-based company provides venture capital financing for nanotechnology companies in various growth phases. It also provides the benefits of its experience and expertise to developers of financial instruments and to investors in the nanotechnology sector. For further information about the company, please visit www.nanostart.de.

About BioMicro Systems, Inc.:
BioMicro Systems, Inc. is a private company focused on the development and commercialization of biological research products based on its proprietary microfluidic and microarray technologies. More company information can be found at www.biomicro.com.

About Roche:
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2009, Roche had over 80’000 employees worldwide and invested almost 10 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 49.1 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

Disclaimer:
This notice constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe to securities. There will be no public offering of securities of Nanostart AG in conjunction with the existing listing of its shares in the “Entry Standard” segment of the regulated unofficial market (Freiverkehr) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This notice does not constitute a securities prospectus. Neither this notice nor the information contained within is intended for direct or indirect distribution within the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

Media contact:
Nanostart AG
Public Relations
Dr. Hans Joachim Dürr
Goethestrasse 26-28
D-60313 Frankfurt
Germany
phone: +49 (0)69-21 93 96 111
fax: +49 (0)69-21 93 96 122
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