Mercury Computer Systerms, Inc. And Pfizer Inc. Support Malaria Research

CHELMSFORD, Mass., July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. announced an agreement for no-cost licensing of Pfizer's Mercury-based MoViT software to Dr. David Matthews, for use in the support of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Medicines for Malaria Venture is a nonprofit organization committed to discovering, developing and delivering affordable antimalarial drugs. Dr. Matthews, who recently retired from Pfizer, is providing pro-bono services to MMV.

Mercury's amira(R) visualization software, based on Version 6.0 of Open Inventor(TM) by Mercury Computer Systems, forms the basis for Pfizer's computational biochemistry MoViT software, currently being used by Dr. Matthews to design compounds to help battle malaria for MMV. The compounds will be used to overcome the resistance that malaria protozoa, or single-cell organisms, have developed over time to classical antifolate drugs successfully used in the past to treat the devastating disease. Using Mercury's technology and Pfizer's software, the project has made significant advances over the past 18 months, helping to further MMV's mission.

"Mercury Computer Systems and Pfizer have developed molecular modeling software that provides a powerful computer-based environment for studying the interaction between candidate drug molecules and their malaria protein targets," said Dr. Matthews. "This software environment is now being effectively applied to better understand structural changes [mutations] that have occurred in a specific malaria protein, dihydrofolate reductase, in response to a previously used class of antimalarial drugs. Because of these drug-induced mutations, the compounds are now less effective in treating the disease. The MoVIT software has been an important tool in facilitating the design of new compounds with greatly increased efficacy against these mutated strains of malaria."

Malaria currently kills between one and two million people annually; the majority of its victims are young children and pregnant women. Along with AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), malaria is one of the world's worst communicable diseases, with an estimated 500 million new cases each year. Although antimalarial drugs have saved hundreds of millions of lives in the past, they have a limited useful life, as do other drugs for infectious diseases, and will eventually need replacing. In fact, drug resistance to older antimalarial drugs is now so prevalent that the public health systems in disease-endemic countries that rely on these drugs have very few effective or affordable options. With better scientific knowledge, it is increasingly possible to develop drugs with longer, more useful lives for treating malaria, and to make a significant health and economic impact on the people and communities affected by this disease.

Mercury is committed to bringing innovation and new products in the space of computational drug discovery. The use of Version 6.0 of Open Inventor(TM) by Mercury Computer Systems and the amira software application in conjunction with MMV is the first of a number of projects in which Mercury is developing state-of-the-art structural drug design and analysis solutions for pharmaceutical customers.

"We are thrilled to see our technology being used in the global quest to defeat malaria," said Marcelo Lima, Vice President and General Manager of the Commercial Imaging and Visualization business at Mercury. "Our Version 6.0 of Open Inventor(TM) by Mercury Computer Systems and amira software solutions are designed to enable rapid 3D visualization of complex data, providing instant access to valuable information, a crucial step in the drug and treatment discovery and development process. Mercury's technology and software arm researchers and scientists with unprecedented power and sophistication to develop treatments for malaria."

For more information on the Medicines for Malaria Venture, visit www.mmv.org. For more information on amira and Version 6.0 of Open Inventor(TM) by Mercury Computer Systems 3D visualization solutions, visit www.mc.com/3dcore or call (866) 627-6951.

About Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of high-performance embedded, real-time digital signal and image processing solutions. Mercury's solutions play a critical role in a wide range of applications, transforming sensor data to information for analysis and interpretation. In military reconnaissance and surveillance platforms the Company's systems process real-time radar, sonar, and signals intelligence data. Mercury's systems are also used in state-of-the-art medical diagnostic imaging devices including MRI, PET, and digital X-ray, and in semiconductor imaging applications including photomask generation and wafer inspection. Mercury provides advanced 3D image processing and visualization software and optimized systems to diverse end markets including life sciences, geosciences, and simulation. The Company also provides radio frequency (RF) products for enhanced communications capabilities in military and commercial applications.

Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Mercury serves customers in North America, Europe and Asia through its direct sales force and a network of subsidiaries and distributors. Visit Mercury on the web at www.mc.com.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to amira and Version 6.0 of Open Inventor(TM) by Mercury Computer Systems. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geo-political unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology, and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, continued funding of defense programs, the timing of such funding, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, and inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses, and achieving anticipated synergies, and difficulties in retaining key customers. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2006. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

Contacts: Kathy Donahue, Public Relations Manager Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-967-1126 / kdonahue@mc.com Christian T. Potts, Director Greenough Communications 617-275-6521 / cpotts@greenoughcom.com

Amira is a trademark of Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum fur Informationstechnik Berlin (ZIB). Open Inventor is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries worldwide, used under license from Silicon Graphics, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060103/MERCURYCSLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.comMercury Computer Systems, Inc.

CONTACT: Kathy Donahue, Public Relations Manager of Mercury ComputerSystems, Inc., +1-978-967-1126, kdonahue@mc.com; or Christian T. Potts,Director of Greenough Communications, +1-617-275-6521,cpotts@greenoughcom.com