ART Announces Receipt of Letter of Intent From CRO BioLaurus to Purchase Optix MX2 System

MONTREAL, CANADA (TSX: ARA), a Canadian medical device company and a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, is pleased to announce that it has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase its Optix® MX2 preclinical optical molecular imaging system, from the Southern California-based CRO firm BioLaurus, Inc. The announcement was made at the annual AACR meeting in San Diego, which ART is attending as an exhibitor.

Dr. Mario Bourdon, President of BioLaurus, stated, "BioLaurus has developed a platform for longitudinal preclinical trials in response to the objectives of the FDA's "Critical Path Initiative", aimed at accelerating drug development. BioLaurus will provide the ART Optix MX2 system to its pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients, as part of its multi-modality quantitative molecular imaging capabilities."

"We are proud to partner with BioLaurus, a state-of-the-art CRO that has developed a tremendously valuable and cutting-edge service offering - ensuring their long term success - and we are honoured to be a part of that," said Sebastien Gignac, ART's President and CEO. "The Optix imaging system provides the most comprehensive molecular imaging data set on the market today and BioLaurus' decision to offer Optix to their rapidly expanding client base is further validation that Optix should be used when molecular information is critically important," concluded Mr. Gignac.

BioLaurus is a San Diego-based company focusing on the preclinical segment of the rapidly growing CRO industry. BioLaurus provides research services in drug discovery and IND enabling drug development for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. These services comprise in vitro and in vivo efficacy, PK/ADME, safety, and toxicology services, with both conventional and new leading-edge technologies such as in vitro HCA/HCS and in vivo quantitative molecular imaging and microdialysis/LC/MS.

About the Optix® system

Based on time-domain technology, which allows measurement of the light's time of arrival, the Optix® in vivo optical molecular imaging device is the most sensitive optical imager commercially available on the preclinical market, allowing for detection of lower concentrations of signals deeper inside the body. Unique to the Optix system is the ability to recover fluorescence lifetime, which can be used to separate and quantify probe distributions depending on their respective biochemical environment. Also part of the Optix product offering is a new CT fusion software package allowing researchers to export the scan obtained using Optix in DICOM format, and fuse it with microCT for a full 3D anatomical reference.

About ART

ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. is a leader in molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. ART has developed products in medical imaging, medical diagnostics, disease research, and drug discovery with the goal of bringing new and better treatments to patients faster. The Optix® optical molecular imaging system, designed for monitoring physiological changes in living systems at the preclinical study phases of new drugs, is used by industry and academic leaders worldwide. The SoftScan® optical medical imaging device is designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. ART is commercializing these products in a global strategic alliance with GE Healthcare, a world leader in mammography and imaging. Finally, the Fenestra® line of molecular imaging contrast products provide image enhancement for a wide range of preclinical Micro CT applications allowing scientists to see greater detail in their imaging studies, with potential extension into other major imaging modalities. ART's shares are listed on the TSX under the ticker symbol ARA. For more information on ART, visit our website at www.art.ca .

This press release may contain forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that would cause actual events to differ materially from expectations. These risks and uncertainties are described in the most recent Annual Information Form and the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007, available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Contacts: ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. Jacques Bedard Chief Financial Officer 514-832-0777 [e-mail] ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. Dino DiCamillo, Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Preclinical Imaging 514-832-0777 [e-mail] www.art.ca