Cyclics Patents New Process for Making CBT Resin; Direct Process Will Lower Costs

SCHWARZHEIDE, Germany--March 16, 2005--A new patent describing a more direct, cost effective route to the manufacture of CBT(R) resin has been issued to Cyclics Corporation by the US Patent and Trademark Office (Patent #6,855,798). The core of the invention is the use of less costly starting materials to produce the CBT resin. The current manufacturing process begins with a fully formed polymer (polybutylene terephthalate or PBT) which is then reduced to small oligomers in solution through the use of a catalyst. The patent covers a process where CBT resin can be made from key monomers directly, rather than having to use PBT that already has the cost of polymerization built into it.

"The ability to produce CBT by a simpler route will significantly drive down our manufacturing costs," according to Gary Faler, the inventor named in the patent and Chief Technology Officer for Cyclics Corporation. "As we design our next, world-scale, facility we will employ this technology as well as additional process technology gains that we have identified in the operation of the Schwarzheide plant."

"Using this new technology in the plant we are designing for 2009 will enable us to make products at a price and volume that will allow significant applications for CBT resin in large, high volume markets," said Ted Eveleth, Chief Executive Officer of Cyclics Corporation. "Since the original purchase of 48 patents from GE in 1999, Cyclics has continued to expand the technology behind CBT resin and push into new areas of engineering plastics research. Our worldwide patent portfolio totals more than 75 with ongoing efforts to refine production and expand product offerings."

Cyclics' first CBT resin plant, in Schwarzheide, Germany, will achieve an annual production rate of over 10 million pounds in 2006. By the fourth quarter of 2005, Cyclics will announce the location of their second plant, expected to have an annual capacity of 50-100 million pounds. There has been no decision as to the new plant's location with a number of sites under consideration.

Cyclics Corporation, headquartered in Schenectady, New York, U.S.A. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Cyclics Europe GmbH based in Schwarzheide, Germany, manufacture innovative plastics that offer breakthroughs in processing, making new products possible and changing the economics of existing ones. The water-like processing viscosities of Cyclics' engineering thermoplastic products offer improvements in performance and productivity for structural composites, compounding, casting, nanocomposites, coatings and rotational molding. Cyclics has alliances with Ahlstrom Glassfibre Oy, Alcan Composites, BASF, Davy Process Technology, Dow Automotive and The P Group.

(R) CBT is a Registered Trademark of Cyclics Corporation.