Original Andy Warhol Polaroid of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy to Be Sold at Auction

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manhattan Scientifics, Inc. (OTCBB:MHTX), developer of patented technology for early cancer detection, announced it will auction Andy Warhol's original Polaroid of Senator Edward Kennedy to advance cancer research. Warhol used the iconic image to create his silkscreen portrait series supporting the lawmaker's 1980 Presidential campaign. Kennedy died in 2009, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

“Ted Kennedy was a powerful advocate of the promise of medical technology and the limitless possibility of science”

Swann Galleries will feature the never-before-seen Polaroid in a New York City auction on Thursday, October 4, 2012. The auction coincides with this year's Presidential race, marking Kennedy's 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his seating in the U.S. Senate. These milestones will spark significant bidding interest.

Auction proceeds will benefit The Early Use Fund, a non-profit organization assisting leading cancer researchers and prestigious medical facilities, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering and M.D. Anderson, in obtaining access to emerging cancer technologies. One promising breakthrough technology is a method to identify early-stage cancer, developed by scientist Edward R. Flynn and researchers at the University of New Mexico, and funded by Manhattan Scientifics.

"This auction remembers the energy and charisma of Ted Kennedy, as seen through the camera lens of artist Andy Warhol," CEO Manny Tsoupanarias said. "Manhattan Scientifics is committed to defeating this disease and is proud to sponsor this important auction. Proceeds will support critical research and advance breakthrough technology for early cancer detection."

"Ted Kennedy was a powerful advocate of the promise of medical technology and the limitless possibility of science," Manhattan Scientifics founder Marvin Maslow said. "In the face of an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, Ted Kennedy never abandoned his belief that a solution would be found. The sale of this historic photograph continues that cause, supporting new technology that can identify cancer years earlier, in its microscopic stage."

Warhol was known for his use of Polaroid prints and artistic focus on the Kennedys, including President Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline. Instant photography became a defining ingredient in the artist's signature silkscreen portraits. Today, Polaroid has reinvented instant photography for the digital age and is a world leader in consumer electronics. The company is a supporting sponsor of the auction.

For Richard S. Larson, MD, PhD, Vice Chancellor of Research at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and medical co-developer of Manhattan Scientifics' cancer technology center, the auction is especially significant. As a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, Larson spent years in Boston earning his PhD and MD credentials. He worked in the city's premier hospitals and medical facilities, alongside the very professionals involved in treating the Senator. For him, advancing techniques for early cancer detection provides an opportunity to recognize Kennedy's efforts in positioning the U.S. as a world leader in medical research.

“Had this technology been available in the years leading up to Senator Kennedy’s battle against brain cancer, we would have possessed an enormous medical advantage in treating him," Larson said. "This technology could have made the difference in saving the life of Edward Kennedy."

Manhattan Scientifics' patented process offers the promise of early cancer detection, in many cases two to three years sooner than current diagnostic techniques, enabling doctors to provide early treatment using nanotechnology. The potential exists to strategically target the disease using nanometals, destroying only malignant cells without ionizing radiation.

The company’s technology can't prevent cancer, but can provide a solution. For Kennedy, it would not have prevented the disease, but provided lifesaving advantages in detecting and treating it. The potential benefit afforded by Manhattan Scientific's nanomagnetic technology is early detection, with treatment that is more precise and less invasive than current methods. The first version of this technology uses microscopic nanometallic particles made up of ultra-fine iron oxide to diagnose cancer at its earliest stages. In the second application, it would enable doctors to deliver cancer a lethal blow at a cellular level. By attacking and destroying only specific cancer-typed cells, neighboring healthy cells would be left unharmed. This approach would offer a revolutionary alternative to radiation therapy which destroys both cancerous and healthy tissues.

“Compared to contemporary medical techniques, Manhattan Scientifics' technology offers the advantage of early detection and, in future applications, potential treatment in situations similar to Senator Kennedy’s," Larson said. "For cancer patients, this means reduced medical risk, substantially lower physical impact, and far better outcomes. The early detection of cancer demonstrates the incredible possibility of medical technology in which Senator Kennedy so strongly believed."

About Manhattan Scientifics

With offices in New Mexico, New York, and Montreal, Manhattan Scientifics, Inc., is focused on technology transfer and commercialization of disruptive technologies in the nanomedicine space. The company is developing commercial medical prosthetics applications for its ultra-fine grain metals and plans to commercialize the cancer research and nanomedical applications developed by Senior Scientific LLC, a unit of the Company. Please visit www.mhtx.com.

About Polaroid

A trusted global brand for over 70 years, Polaroid is best known for pioneering instant photography. For more information, visit www.polaroid.com.

About Swann Galleries

Swann Auction Galleries was founded in 1941 as an auction house specializing in Rare and Antiquarian Books and today is the largest specialist auctioneer of Works on Paper in the world. Swann conducts approximately 40 sales a year, with departments devoted to Books, Autographs, Photographs & Photobooks, Prints & Drawings, Vintage Posters, African-American Fine Art, and Fine & Vintage Writing Instruments. Visit www.swanngalleries.com for more information.

Forward-looking statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Management at Manhattan Scientifics believes that purchase of its shares should be considered to be at the high end of the risk spectrum. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.