China Hospital Partnership

11 July 2012

Ultrasis plc

("Ultrasis" or the "Company")

China Hospital Partnership

Paving the way for "Beating the Blues" in Chinese market

Ultrasis, the leading provider of cognitive behavioral therapy for stress and mild to moderate depression, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a research partnership with the Mental Health Services Department of West China Hospital, West China School of Medicine Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

The partnership is aimed at establishing the benefits of using Beating the Blues ("BtB") to alleviate mild and moderate depression and anxiety within the Chinese population and identifying any cultural adaptation required to develop a Chinese-specific version of the program for the Chinese market.

Ultrasis has secured the services of Jia Ji, a Pittsburgh USA based social entrepreneur, as China Project Liaison Director. He will support the Board of Ultrasis, seeing the project through to fruition and developing a follow-on business and marketing plan for the country.

West China Hospital is the largest hospital in China, has in excess of 4,000 beds and delivers over 2.5 million out-patient appointments per year. A leader in diverse disciplines research, the hospital's research department has secured over Renminbi (RNB) 5.000 million (£490 million) over the past 5 years, to fund scientific and research programs.

China has a population of nearly 1.35 billion people and accounts for almost 20 per cent. of the world's population. The Chinese Government is positively addressing, at national and provincial levels, the need to provide psychological therapy services to their population, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ("CBT") being already a well-established form of treatment in the country's mental health services. The World Health Organisation estimates that mental illness will increase in prominence, to account for 17.4 per cent. of all illness in China, by 2020.

Dr. Lin Kang, Director at the Clinical Psychology Unit of West China Hospital, said:

"It is important to have secured this partnership with Ultrasis, to research the use of "Beating the Blues" in our clinics. We will be recruiting a patient cohort with a good understanding of the English language, so will be able to use the existing version of the program. We will be researching the clinical benefits of the program and also identifying to what degree there needs to be any cultural or linguistic adaptation to enable the program to be used within the wider Chinese population. The initial research phase will be completed within 12 months."

Nigel Brabbins, Chief Executive of Ultrasis, said:

"The research programme alone is a significant development for Ultrasis and "Beating the Blues". More important is the potential it offers to build a credible base from which to address the largest market by population in the world. Dr. Lin Kang and his colleagues at West China Hospital are well respected for conducting high quality research and have published many excellent papers. We will draw on their findings to help us understand what is required to create a specific version of the program for the Chinese population."

"We are also delighted that Jia Ji is supporting the Ultrasis Board in developing a business strategy to take "Beating the Blues" to market. He has an extensive track record in business development, especially within the Health Information Technology space and in businesses with a strong social dimension."

Jia Ji, China Project Liaison Director for Ultrasis, said:

"The potential for computerised CBT to help reform China's mental health treatment system is enormous. Given West China Hospital's size, reputation, and central location, it makes an ideal partner for development of a coordinated international initiative to improve access to mental health treatment for China's under-served populations."

Jia Ji is a Stanford alumnus, based in Pittsburgh, USA. He is an entrepreneur, specialising in high tech start-ups and social enterprises, with well-developed networks in the Chinese healthcare market.

Dr. Lin Kang is a Ph.D and M.D. of medical science, Post doctor of medical neurobiology. He is Associate Professor at Sichuan University and Chief Resident in the department of psychiatry at West China Hospital. His research fields include neurobiological mechanism and therapy for drug abuse and dependence.

-ENDS-

For further information contact:

Chris Lawrance