Applied Biosystems Selected By U.S. Department Of Defense To Lead Development Of Next-Generation Instrument System To Identify Infectious Diseases
FOSTER CITY, Calif. – August 9, 2006 – Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced that the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded the company a $24.5 million contract to accelerate the development of a prototype instrument system that is intended to improve the way infectious diseases are identified for epidemiological and biosecurity purposes. Upon successful completion of this project, this new system is expected to yield precise, reproducible results in less than one hour following sample processing by providing a streamlined workflow and the ability to simultaneously analyze multiple pathogen targets in a single test. Last month, Applied Biosystems successfully presented key components of the prototype to the United States Air Force, which will be responsible for validating the next-generation pathogen identification system.
The current technologies that are used to test for infectious pathogens typically reside in a centralized laboratory environment. By successfully developing a prototype system that simplifies the processing and analysis of pathogen detection tests, Applied Biosystems expects to enable a new generation of decentralized molecular detection systems that can be deployed in more diverse locations and operated by a broader range of public health and safety professionals. These new systems are also expected to introduce a more flexible, modular design that will allow for the rapid customization of new test panels – or assays – that can detect emerging pathogens.
Early prototypes have demonstrated the ability to identify up to 10 pathogens simultaneously on a test array that is the size of a credit card. Through parallel analysis of multiple gene targets, these systems are expected to provide more detailed information about the nature of each sample being tested. Such modular systems may have future applications in other areas of biosecurity as well as in forensics, animal testing and food quality testing.
About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems
Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new pharmaceuticals. Applied Biosystems’ products also serve the needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we refer to as “applied markets,” such as the fields of: human identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity, which refers to products needed in response to the threat of biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, for example in food and the environment. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of over $1.9 billion during fiscal 2006. The Celera Genomics Group is primarily a molecular diagnostics business that is using proprietary genomics and proteomics discovery platforms to identify and validate novel diagnostic markers, and is developing diagnostic products based on these markers as well as other known markers. Celera Genomics maintains a strategic alliance with Abbott Laboratories for the development and commercialization of molecular, or nucleic acid-based, diagnostic products, and it is also developing new diagnostic products outside of this alliance. Through its genomics and proteomics research efforts, Celera Genomics is also discovering and validating therapeutic targets, and it is seeking strategic partnerships to develop therapeutic products based on these discovered targets. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/.
Applied Biosystems, AB (design) and Celera are registered trademarks, and Applera is a trademark of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the US. and/or certain other countries. Copyright 2006. Applera Corporation and MDS Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
