Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI), an Applera Corporation business,
and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), a UK government agency
specializing in animal disease surveillance and veterinary research,
today announced a strategic collaboration to manufacture and
commercialize the VLA's molecular avian influenza and Newcastle
disease environmental detection kits. These kits are expected to be
broadly available in Europe and other parts of the world, such as Asia
and Africa. This collaboration is intended to help early detection of
these harmful bird diseases, which is a critical step in managing the
threat posed by these diseases.
The VLA has used these tests to confirm that the avian flu strain
that recently killed 2,600 turkeys in Suffolk, England was the H5N1
virus. It was the first reported case of H5N1 on a UK commercial farm.
The agency said that early detection enabled immediate response to
contain the outbreak. These tests have also been used in a follow-up
enhanced survey of the wild bird population.
The goal of the VLA and Applied Biosystems agreement is to make
these types of tests - known as assays - more readily available for
the same type of early warning detection in various countries. In
addition to the Influenza A virus and its H5 subtype, the assays are
also expected to address the H7 subtype and Newcastle disease. The new
assays are designed to rapidly and reliably detect a broad range of
avian influenza strains in laboratory samples.
"This collaboration agreement between Veterinary Laboratories
Agency and Applied Biosystems is an ideal opportunity to combine both
VLA's experience and expertise of these two very important avian
diseases and Applied Biosystems' expertise and manufacturing skills,"
said Professor Steve Edwards, chief executive of VLA. "As with any
notifiable disease, rapid confirmation is essential for control
measures to be implemented quickly and to minimise the impact. These
molecular detection methods should help to improve, sensitivity,
specificity and turnaround time. We look forward to a long and
successful partnership."
Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Biosystems will
commercialize the VLA real-time PCR assays. Real-time PCR is a
laboratory method used to simultaneously detect and determine the
amount of nucleic acids present in samples. Applied Biosystems was
chosen due to its expertise in the area of avian influenza detection,
its broad portfolio of avian flu kits based on TaqMan(R) real-time PCR
technology, its commercial manufacturing scalability and its specialty
in producing reliable tests that require fewer processing steps.
The VLA assays are veterinary molecular tests that are used in a
laboratory. Applied Biosystems intends to further develop these assays
in a new dry format designed to render more reliable results by
consolidating steps in the testing process and minimizing manual
procedures. The VLA will perform the validation prior to the release
of the tests, which are intended for use in animal health laboratories
around the world outside the United States.
Applied Biosystems currently has an installed base of over 1,400
real-time PCR platforms in public health laboratories across Europe,
Asia, and Africa capable of running avian influenza TaqMan(R) assays.
Applied Biosystems' current TaqMan(R) Influenza A/H5 Detection Kits
are manufactured in Warrington, UK. Today's announcement extends the
Applied Biosystems international initiative to ensure that detection
kits and up-to-date genomic data are available for priority infectious
disease threats.
"Laboratories responsible for disease surveillance in many
different countries continue to increase preparations for any possible
outbreak of avian influenza and other infectious diseases," said Lars
Holmkvist, president of Applied Biosystems, Europe. "Providing animal
health laboratories with the tools for a reliable early warning system
demonstrates Applied Biosystems' commitment to support a global
network of laboratories and to partner with leading agencies, such as
the VLA, to bring reliable tests to market as quickly as possible."
Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by the
type A strains of the influenza virus. The H5N1 subtype has evolved
into a virus that has the potential to infect humans. If contracted,
it has the capability to cause serious illness or death in extreme
cases. Certain strains of influenza A virus also have the ability to
mutate into strains with differing pathogenic profiles. Newcastle
disease virus is a highly contagious, notifiable disease caused by a
Paramyxovirus, type 1, that affects domestic poultry and many species
of wild birds. The clinical signs include depression, lack of
appetite, respiratory distress, coughing and sneezing.
For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
Applied Biosystems' influenza detection products are for research
use only and for health agency epidemiological use only in countries
outside of the United States. They have not been cleared or approved
by the United States Food and Drug Administration or any other
regulatory agency, or under the European IVD Directive, for diagnostic
or other clinical use, and are not intended and should not be used for
diagnostic or any other clinical purposes. TaqMan(R) Influenza A/H5
Detection Kits and Applied Biosystems' other influenza detection kits
are not for sale in the United States except under special research
use only certifications.
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 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. Celera
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 is also discovering and validating therapeutic
targets, and it is seeking to develop therapeutic products based on
these discovered targets through strategic partnerships. 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/.
About the Veterinary Laboratories Agency:
VLA is a UK Government, Executive Agency of the Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is a regional network
of 16 laboratories including one in Scotland, two in Wales, a central
research and diagnostic testing facility near Weybridge in Surrey. The
Agency is one of the largest research establishments of its kind in
the world and is internationally recognised as a centre of scientific
excellence. It has close international links with research institutes,
universities and commercial companies and acts as an International
Reference Laboratory for a wide range of infectious and non-infectious
diseases in farm animals including avian influenza and Newcastle
disease. The main aim of the Agency is to safeguard public and animal
health by providing all sectors of the animal health industry with a
wide range of applied veterinary research and consultancy on diseases
of farmed livestock, diagnosis of diseases of statutory and public
health importance and surveillance of new and emerging diseases
throughout the country. These services are delivered through a series
of integrated science programmes which include research and
surveillance into TSEs, tuberculosis, avian influenza, food and
environmental safety, the identification of new and emerging
veterinary diseases and a comprehensive laboratory testing service.
Applied Biosystems Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking.
These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases
such as "should," "expect," and "planned," among others. These
forward-looking statements are based on Applera Corporation's current
expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order
to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Applera Corporation notes
that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to
differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include
but are not limited to: (1) rapidly changing technology and dependence
on the development and customer acceptance of new products; (2) risk
whether the new kits will be successfully manufactured and
commercialized through the collaboration, (3) sales dependent on
customers' capital spending policies; and (4) other factors that might
be described from time to time in Applera Corporation's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press
release is as of the date of the release, and Applera does not
undertake any duty to update this information, including any
forward-looking statements, unless required by law.
Copyright(C) 2007. Applera Corporation. All rights reserved.
Applied Biosystems, AB (Design), Applera and Celera are registered
trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the US and/or
certain other countries. TaqMan is a registered trademark of Roche
Molecular Systems, Inc.
