MMRF announces $8M in research grants

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), the world's leading private funder of multiple myeloma research, today announced that it awarded more
than $8 million in research grants and funding to the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) in 2005. The MMRF is proud to direct an outstanding
95 percent of funds raised to research and related programming, making the MMRF's research grants program one of the nation's most effective and efficient.

In addition to its traditional Senior Research Awards and Fellows Awards, the MMRF in 2005 was pleased to offer highly competitive research grants
through three new research programs -- Translational Research Awards, Drug Screening Library Awards, and Therapeutic Targets Awards. Thirty five research
grants, totaling $3.5 million, which are at the forefront of scientific novelty and significance, were awarded to investigators from 31 institutions
worldwide.

"The MMRF is extremely proud to support innovative research efforts that will result in new treatment options for patients.  In 2005, the MMRF funded
15 different therapeutic approaches through its research grants program, which underscores the MMRF's continued commitment to advancing new and improved
treatments for multiple myeloma and to discovering a cure for this disease," said Anne Quinn Young, Program Director of the MMRF.

The MMRF awarded the following research grants in 2005:

Translational Research Awards: The Translational Research Awards were developed to advance the science of pre-clinical validation in multiple
myeloma. Robust pre-clinical validation is an important step in developing novel and combination treatments for multiple myeloma. In 2005, the MMRF
awarded six Translational Research Awards, totaling $600,000, to seven institutions.

Drug Library Screening Awards: The Drug Library Screening Awards were developed to support efforts to screen a library of FDA-approved drugs and
other existing compounds against known multiple myeloma targets. Findings from these efforts will help determine if any existing therapeutic classes of
compounds show activity against multiple myeloma-an important step in developing currently available drugs into new treatments for multiple myeloma.
In 2005, the MMRF awarded three Drug Library Screening Awards, totaling $300,000, to three research institutions.

Therapeutic Targets Awards: The Therapeutics Targets Awards were developed to support researchers in the identification, validation, and prioritization
of new druggable targets for multiple myeloma-an important step in developing novel therapies that effectively treat the disease. In 2005, the MMRF awarded
three Therapeutic Targets Awards, totaling $400,000, to three institutions.

MMRF Senior Research Award: The MMRF Senior Research Awards provides a one-year $100,000 grant to investigators who have been working in blood cancer
research for a minimum of five years.  In 2005, the MMRF awarded a total of $1.7 million in Senior Research Awards to 17 grantees.

MMRF Fellows Awards: The MMRF Fellows Award provides a one-year $50,000 grant to researchers just entering the field of multiple myeloma and working
under the supervision of a research sponsor. In 2005, the MMRF awarded a total of $450,000 in Fellows Awards to nine grantees.

All research grants were awarded following the same stringent peer-review process the National Cancer Institute uses for its own grantmaking. The MMRF
is proud to be one of only nine private, charitable research organizations in the United States that has received approval from the National Cancer
Institute for its research grants program.

To date, the MMRF has raised nearly $55 million to support more than 130 research institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide. Full abstracts of
the MMRF's 2005 research awards can be found at http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/research/.