PerkinElmer's Proprietary Drug Discovery Technology to Assist
Ventana in Developing Improved, High-Sensitivity Slide-Staining Applications
BOSTON, Mass. and TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- PerkinElmer Life
Sciences, a global provider of drug discovery, research, and clinical
screening products, services and technology for the life science industry, and
Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: VMSI), the leading company in supplying
automated instrument-reagent systems to histology and drug discovery labs,
today announced that they have signed a licensing agreement. Under the
agreement, PerkinElmer, will license its TSA(TM) (Tyramide Signal
Amplification) technology non-exclusively to Ventana for development and use
on its automated immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in-situ hybridization (ISH)
slide-staining systems for both clinical and research uses. TSA is
PerkinElmer's proprietary signal amplification technology. Ventana will use
its current presence in histology and pharmaceutical research laboratories
worldwide to leverage the use and acceptance of TSA in these markets.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Linking our TSA technology with Ventana's automated instruments will
enable clinical and pharmaceutical research labs to achieve higher levels of
assay sensitivity," commented Patrik Dahlen, president of PerkinElmer Life
Sciences. "Furthermore, we are confident that Ventana's large direct sales
and marketing presence in the clinical histology market will expand the market
for TSA."
"Both our clinical and pharmaceutical research customers are demanding
greater sensitivity for a number of slide-staining applications," commented
Christopher Gleeson, Ventana's president and chief executive officer. "We
believe PerkinElmer's TSA signal amplification technology holds great promise
for increased levels of sensitivity. We plan to develop clinical applications
for our BenchMark system using the technology to detect viral presence in low
copy count number. This is potentially a more sensitive test to detect
cervical cancer than is currently available. We also hope to develop
applications for measuring gene expression levels in tissue for use on our
Discovery system, which is sold into the pharmaceutical development market."
The companies believe that the primary customers for TSA technology will
be clinical histology labs, biotech companies and large pharmaceutical
companies.
Statements in this press release which are not strictly historical are
"forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause
the company's actual results in the future to differ materially from the
expected results. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the results of
the company's business may include general economic conditions, market
acceptance of new automated histology products, continued success in asset
management and other factors that are described in the company's specific
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About PerkinElmer Life Sciences
PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Inc., a business unit of PerkinElmer, Inc., is
a global provider of drug discovery, research, and clinical screening
products, services and technologies for the life science industry.
Incorporating NEN(R) Life Science Products, Wallac(TM) and Receptor
Biology(TM), PerkinElmer Life Sciences offers a complete line of
instrumentation, reagents and consumables, as well as assay development and
instrumentation systems for high throughput screening, and other areas
involved in target validation for drug discovery. For further information,
contact PerkinElmer Life Sciences, 549 Albany Street, Boston, MA, 02118, USA.
Telephone: 800-551-2121 (U.S. Only) or +1 617-482-9595. Fax: +1 617-482-1380.
Website: http://www.perkinelmer.com/lifesciences .
About PerkinElmer, Inc.
PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI) is a $1.7 billion high technology company
based in Boston, Massachusetts, operating in four businesses-Life Sciences,
Fluid Sciences, Optoelectronics, and Analytical Instruments. The Company has
operations in over 125 countries, and is a component of the S&P Index.
Additional information is available at http://www.perkinelmer.com or at
1-877-PKI-NYSE.
About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.
Ventana develops, manufactures and markets instrument/reagent systems that
automate tissue preparation and slide staining in clinical histology and drug
discovery laboratories worldwide. Ventana's clinical systems are important
tools used in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.
Ventana's drug discovery systems are used to accelerate the discovery of new
drug targets and evaluate the safety of new drug compounds. Visit the Ventana
Medical Systems, Inc. website at http://www.ventanamed.com . The Molecular Discovery
Systems Division has its own website at http://www.ventanadiscovery.com .
SOURCE Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ventanamed.com
CONTACT:
Elaine Carraher, Sr. MarCom Manager of
Perkinelmer Life Sciences, 617-350-9207; Christopher Gleeson,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Ventana, 520-887-2155;
Analyst, Kathy Brunson, 312-640-6696, General, Marilyn Windsor,
312-640-6692, Media, Cindy Martin, 312-266-7800, all of The
Financial Relations Board
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