NFLD Northfield Laboratories Inc. (MM)

EVANSTON, Ill., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northfield Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLD) announced today that it will receive $3.5 million in designated funding for the continued development of PolyHeme(R), the Company's human hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, as part of the Fiscal 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill recently signed by President Bush. "Northfield is pleased to be included in the federal government's defense appropriation budget once again. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and his staff for their support and leadership in securing this funding for our work," said Steven A. Gould, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Durbin, the Assistant Democratic Leader, is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and secured the funding in the Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Appropriations bill. He visited Northfield's Mt. Prospect manufacturing facility earlier today. "This research has the potential to save lives," said Durbin. "First responders will be better able to help injured persons with massive blood loss and surgeons will have another resource in the emergency room. PolyHeme could also help doctors in rural or remote settings where blood supplies for transfusions are limited." About Northfield Laboratories Northfield Laboratories Inc. is a leader in developing an oxygen-carrying resuscitative fluid, PolyHeme(R), for the treatment of urgent, large volume blood loss in trauma and resultant surgical settings. PolyHeme(R) is a solution of chemically modified human hemoglobin that requires no cross matching and is therefore compatible with all blood types. It has a shelf life of over 12 months. Enrollment is currently underway in a pivotal Phase III study of PolyHeme(R) beginning in the pre-hospital setting. For further information about Northfield Laboratories, visit http://www.northfieldlabs.com/ This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning, among other things, Northfield's future business plans and strategies and clinical and regulatory developments affecting our PolyHeme blood substitute product. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of such terms as "intends," "expects," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates," "should," "believes" and similar terms. These forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may therefore differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements because of various factors and possible events, including our ability to obtain FDA approval to market PolyHeme commercially, the availability of capital to finance our clinical trials and ongoing business operations, our ability to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials and to manufacture PolyHeme in commercial quantities, our ability to market PolyHeme successfully, the possibility that competitors will develop products that will render PolyHeme obsolete or non-competitive, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, the possibility that we may be subject to product liability claims and other legal actions, our dependency on a limited number of key personnel, the uncertainty of Fourth, Final party reimbursement for our product and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed quarterly report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the time such statement is made. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Northfield or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by this cautionary statement. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sophia H. Twaddell Sharon L. Weinstein Vice President, Corporate Communications Noonan Russo (847) 864-3500 (212) 845-4271 DATASOURCE: Northfield Laboratories Inc. CONTACT: Sophia H. Twaddell, Vice President, Corporate Communications of Northfield Laboratories Inc., +1-847-864-3500, , or Sharon L. Weinstein of Noonan Russo, +1-212-845-4271, Web site: http://www.northfieldlabs.com/

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