NeuroVigil Inc., a Salk Institute spin off, Wins First Prize at World-Class UCSD...

NeuroVigil Inc., a Salk Institute spin off, Wins First Prize at World-Class UCSD $50K Innovation Competition

NeuroVigil Led the Diverse Pack of 68 Accomplished Teams
SAN DIEGO--(Business Wire)--
The UCSD $50K Competition today announced that NeuroVigil Inc., a
Salk Institute spin off, has won first prize of $30,000 for innovation
in brain analysis. NeuroVigil Inc. is the first wireless
neurodiagnostics company. NeuroVigil Inc. uses human brainwaves (no
animal research needed) with a single non-invasive sensor in order to
isolate biomarkers of common diseases and changes in brain state, well
before symptoms or behavioral changes are apparent.

Led by Dr. Philip Low, the company's founder, CEO, and chairman,
NeuroVigil, Inc. targets the sleep, pharmaceutical and transportation
industries and develops both software and hardware offerings,
including SPEARS, an algorithm invented by Dr. Low during his
groundbreaking PhD thesis at the Salk Institute, and the iBrainTM, an
iPod for the brain. In addition, NeuroVigil, Inc., has built alliances
with world class institutions and science and business leaders,
including 4 Nobel laureates, and Dr. Irwin Jacobs, chairman of
QUALCOMM, who is personally advising Dr. Low. (Dr. Low's previous
mentors include the late Dr. Francis Crick, Nobel laureate of DNA
fame.) Nobel laureate and president of the Salk Institute, Dr. Roger
Guillemin sums it up: "Philip has shown exceptional talent as both a
scientist and as an innovator."

NeuroVigil Inc. also scored another first place finish at the
annual winner-take-all Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) $250K Venture
Challenge, just days before the UCSD $50K and gave the annual MedTech
Insight Medical Device Summit keynote address in San Francisco days
later. Implications of Dr. Low's work are currently the focus of
articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the
New York Times, the New Scientist and International Herald Tribune,
amongst others.

Designed to foster the next era of business leaders and technical
innovation, the competition consists of several teams who over the
course of eight months develop a promising idea into a full business
plan.

In a riveting final session held on May 31st, the top five teams
competed live for the first prize. Following each 12-minute
presentation, the seven judges chosen for their leadership in the
venture capital, entrepreneurial, scientific and business worlds
volleyed an intense eight-minute round of Q&A.

Following a short deliberation, the judges announced the winner of
the grand prize of $30,000: NeuroVigil Inc. Second and third place
prizes each of $10,000, went to Lumigen Biosciences for their
fluorescent visualization technique used to ensure cancer is
completely removed during surgery, and SciVee Inc., which is likened
to YouTube for the science community.

The UCSD $50K Competition raised well over $120,000 from San Diego
area sponsors in this its second year, and attracted an all-star
roster of judges and mentors from the San Diego venture community. In
total 68 teams entered the 2007-2008 competition, with technology
product and service offerings from green energy to novel diagnostics
and therapeutics.

"Our real-world competition is the first one of its kind for
aspiring entrepreneurs in San Diego," said John Yamauchi, CEO of the
$50K Entrepreneurship Competition. "We are extremely proud to be able
to help promising young business minds take their ideas to the next
level and quite possibly to market. We thank everyone involved,
especially our local sponsors who without their support none of this
could happen."

About the UCSD $50K Entrepreneurial Competition

The 50K Entrepreneurial Competition is a UCSD based student
organization developed for the university's entrepreneurial community
of both undergraduate and graduate students from all fields of study.
Central to the group's activities is its annual business plan
competition, a locally sponsored event that combines both practical
business market education with a real-world business plan bake off.
For more information on the UCSD50K, visit http://50k.ucsd.edu and for
more information on NeuroVigil Inc., visit http://www.neurovigil.com.

NeuroVigil Inc.
Philip Low, 858.531.4490
philip@neurovigil.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008