Atossa Genetics to Present at the 13th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Healthcare Conference

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Aug 30, 2011) - Atossa Genetics, Inc., a privately-held health care company focused on offering a comprehensive set of innovative, proprietary breast health evaluation products and services that provide accurate and actionable results for personalized cancer prevention and breast health, announced today that Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., FCAP, Chairman & CEO, will present at the 13^th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Healthcare Conference, which will take place on September 11-13 in New York City. Dr. Quay's presentation will be webcast via the Company's website, www.atossagenetics.com, on Tuesday, September 13, beginning at 3:40 p.m. Eastern Time (12:40 p.m. Pacific Time).

"I appreciate being invited to present at the Rodman & Renshaw conference and look forward to speaking with investors about the commercial launch plans for our first two tests, the patented, FDA-cleared ForeCYTE™ Breast Health test that examines nipple aspirate fluid for biomarkers of precancerous changes and provides a future cancer risk assessment, and the patented, ArgusCYTE™ test to identify circulating tumor cells in breast cancer survivors and determine their sensitivity to specific adjuvant therapies," said Dr. Quay. "These tests encompass the full spectrum of breast health and each address a significant unmet medical need."

About the ForeCYTE Test

The ForeCYTE Breast Health test, a "Pap test for breast cancer," is designed to collect nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), which contains cells from the lining of the milk ducts and the lobules, where approximately 99% of all breast cancers originate. Once collected, the NAF sample will undergo analysis in Atossa Genetic's specially equipped pathology lab to determine whether the cells are normal, atypical (premalignant), or malignant, using a patented, multiplex, immunohistochemical procedure. The ForeCYTE Breast Health test uses no radiation, is simple and painless, and takes less than 5 minutes in a doctor's office or mammography center.

The ForeCYTE Breast Health test is intended as an adjunct to mammography for women ages 50 to 75 and for younger women ages 20 to 49 for whom screening mammography is not recommended, due to mammography's poor sensitivity in this age group and potential radiation safety issues. Based on the results of a study of 6,904 women ages 18-65, the sensitivity and specificity for a women with atypical cells in NAF being diagnosed with breast cancer within a two-year period is 92% and 85%, respectively. The negative predictive value, meaning the likelihood of a woman with a normal ForeCYTE Breast Health test not being diagnosed with breast cancer in the following two-year period, is 99.7%.

The name is derived from the word foresight, the ability to predict or plan for the future.

About the ArgusCYTE Circulating Tumor Cell Test

The ArgusCYTE Circulating Tumor Cell test is a patented, CE-marked test that uses a multi-antibody immunobead reagent to isolate breast cancer tumor cells from the blood and then tests the biological activity of the cells for the expression of hormone receptors (estrogen and progesterone) and the Her2-antigen by RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction). This "Liquid Biopsy" has an analytical sensitivity of 2 cancers cells per 5 mL of blood and a specificity of greater than 90%. In a study of patients with metastatic breast cancer, the ArgusCYTE test predicted therapy response in 78% of the cases.

The ArgusCYTE test is offered as a Laboratory Developed Test by the National Reference Laboratory for Breast Health, a CLIA-certified laboratory and division of Atossa Genetics, Inc. The test is intended as part of an annual examination in the more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors, where physical examination and imaging tests are used to identify early local recurrence and the ArgusCYTE test is used to find systemic or distant recurrence and, if found, to provide information to help women and their doctors make decisions about a treatment plan.

The test is named for Argus Panoptes, a mythical, Greek giant with over 100 eyes who watched over the Nymph Lo and who was described by Hesiod, the poet: "sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always."

About Atossa Genetics, Inc.

Atossa Genetics, Inc. provides a comprehensive set of innovative breast health evaluation products and services that provide accurate and actionable results for personalized cancer prevention and breast health. Atossa has established the National Reference Laboratory for Breast Health, a specially equipped, CLIA-certified laboratory in Seattle, Washington. Patients, health care providers, investors and others seeking information on Atossa and its products and services should visit www.atossagenetics.com.

The company name comes from Queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great and wife of Darius I, the King of the Achaemenid Empire. In about 470 BC, she became the first woman in recorded history to be diagnosed with breast cancer, of which she died.