MathSoft Wins Two-Year $850,000 NIH Fast Track Grant

MathSoft Inc, provider of the broadest line of technical calculation and analytical software for business and academia, announced that its Data Analysis Products Division has been awarded a "Fast Track" Small Business Initiative (SBIR) grant on Bayesian Modeling and Data Analysis by the National Institute of Health.

Fast track grants are awarded to companies to accelerate rapid technology development, based in part on the company's established ability to commercialize products.

The technology will have a significant impact for data modeling and analysis in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, finance, and manufacturing industries. Specifically, multi-center clinical trials and other national multi-location studies will benefit from this new approach. Further, quantitative researchers working with historical data will be able to analyze and discover important trends in their data.

"MathSoft was selected for the 'Fast Track' grant because we have a specialized team of researchers who can develop next-generation technology rapidly. Our world-class research organization develops and delivers technology solutions for commercialization in industries ranging from e- business to data mining," says Shawn Javid, senior vice president and general manager, MathSoft, Inc. "We believe that the NIH recognized the importance of our technology by awarding a 'Fast Track' grant to bring the technology to market sooner."

MathSoft reports research funding as a reduction of research and development expenses in its 10Q and 10K filings with the SEC.

About MathSoft's Research Group

MathSoft's research group currently comprises thirty-five professional researchers with expertise in statistics, biostatistics, applied math, engineering, computer science and geophysics. Contracted research includes statistics, biostatistics, image and signal processing time series analysis and information retrieval. Research division clients include NIH, NASA, NSF, DOD, and other government divisions.

About MathSoft Inc

Founded in 1984, MathSoft is the provider of the broadest line of technical calculation and analytical software for business and academia. With MathSoft's products, users can deploy technical calculations and exploratory data analyses across their entire organizations. The company has more than 1.3 million users of its Mathcad, StudyWorks, S-PLUS, MathSoft StatServer and Axum software worldwide. Users include technical professionals worldwide at more than 90% of the Fortune 1,000 companies and over 500 government installations, and students and faculty at over 2,000 colleges and universities. FreeScholarships.com Inc, www.freescholarships.com, a subsidiary of MathSoft, Inc, helps families and students meet the rising costs of education by giving away money for school in daily online drawings and auctions. Founded in 1999, the site provides information on schools, funding, and careers, while serving as an entertainment, shopping, and community center for visitors of all ages.

S-PLUS product information can be obtained via MathSoft's Web site located at www.splus.mathsoft.com , by phone at 1-800-569-0123, by fax at 206-283-8691 or via mail at 1700 Westlake Avenue North, Suite 500, Seattle, Wash. 98109. MathSoft's corporate headquarters can be reached by phone at 1-800-628-4223, by fax at 617-577- 8829 or via mail at 101 Main Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02142.

Contact MathSoft Inc, Judy McOstrich 206-283-8802 x356 judym@splus.mathsoft.com.