November 21, 2004
San Francisco, CA

Fluidigm, a pioneer in the field of miniaturized integrated fluidic circuit technology,  announced today that it has signed a strategic development deal with In-Q-Tel,  a private venture group funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but include upfront and  milestone payments, as well as an equity investment in Fluidigm by In-Q-Tel.

Building on the success of the Company's first product line, the TOPAZ(tm) System for  protein crystallization, Fluidigm Corporation is now developing new technology  that utilizes the company's patented integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs). IFC  fabrication methods make it possible to integrate hundreds of thousands of  reaction chambers, channels, vias, and valves into chips with an area roughly  the size of a microscope slide.  Specifically, Fluidigm is pursuing two different IFC architectures. The  first architecture can improve detection sensitivity up to 100,000 times. The  other architecture enables high confidence detection of specific sequences  while utilizing much less sample.

"Fluidigm's IFC technology offers unique capabilities for the collection and analysis of  vital DNA sequence information," said Gilman Louie, In-Q-Tel's president  and CEO. "In-Q-Tel is very pleased with its partnership with Fluidigm and  their significant progress toward a solution that will not only enhance  government security readiness but will also meet commercial needs."

"This  deal speeds development of Fluidigm's next product, while providing the Intelligence Community with access to the latest DNA detection  technology," said Gajus Worthington, President and CEO of Fluidigm Corporation. "We are enthusiastic about this work."

About Fluidigm
Fluidigm  Corporation develops and manufactures complete systems, enabled by the  integrated fluidic circuit, that revolutionize life-science applications. Based  in South San Francisco, California, the Company is privately held and backed by  premier investors, including Versant Ventures, Euclid SR Partners, InterWest Partners, Lehman Brothers Healthcare Fund, Bruce Burrows, the Singapore EDB, Lilly BioVentures, the Invus Group, GE Equity, and Piper Jaffray Ventures.