Applied Biosystems and MDS Expand Joint Venture in Mass Spectrometry
01 Settembre 2004 - 4:15PM
PR Newswire (US)
Applied Biosystems and MDS Expand Joint Venture in Mass
Spectrometry Announce Agreement Related to MALDI Time-of-Flight
Systems and Software for Proteomics and Other Applications FOSTER
CITY, CA and TORONTO, ON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Applied
Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, and
MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ) today announced the signing of a
definitive agreement to expand the scope of their joint venture in
life science mass spectrometry. Under the terms of the agreement,
MDS has agreed to pay US$40 million for a 50 percent interest in
intellectual property assets related to current Applied Biosystems
MALDI Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometry systems and next-
generation products under development, together with a 100 percent
interest in certain MALDI TOF product-related manufacturing and
research and development assets. MDS and Applied Biosystems will
each contribute the MALDI TOF and related intellectual property to
Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex Instruments, a 50/50 joint venture of
Applied Biosystems and the MDS Sciex division. Applied Biosystems,
as part of its responsibilities to the joint venture, will continue
to market, sell, service, support, and provide research support to
MALDI TOF products, which currently consist of the Voyager(R)
instruments and 4700 Proteomics Discovery System(TM). Applied
Biosystems also will continue to market, sell, service, and support
various mass spectrometers and software products currently within
the Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex joint venture portfolio. MDS
Sciex, as part of its responsibilities to the joint venture, will
assume primary research and development as well as full
manufacturing responsibility for MALDI TOF product lines. MDS Sciex
will continue to have responsibility for all research and product
development as well as manufacturing for products currently within
the Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex joint venture. Catherine M.
Burzik, President of Applied Biosystems said, "We are excited about
the potential for future success leveraging our collective
expertise in mass spectrometry. As part of the on-going strategic
and operational review at Applied Biosystems, we identified this
action as the best approach for driving growth and realizing
long-term value from our MALDI business. Putting our MALDI assets
in the joint venture builds on our 18 years of success as joint
venture partners and should enable future synergies in research and
development and manufacturing. With this new agreement, we expect
to create further opportunities to develop cutting edge mass
spectrometry systems and build on our strong customer base. We also
anticipate this change will be financially positive for Applied
Biosystems, starting in fiscal 2006." John A. Rogers, President and
Chief Executive Officer of MDS Inc. said, "The expansion of the
joint venture will allow us to combine two highly capable research
groups into one and will allow us to move forward in a more
integrated way in MALDI TOF products and in the proteomics arena.
In fiscal 2005 this transaction is expected to contribute C$25-30
million to MDS revenues and will have a negligible impact on
consolidated earnings per share. Beyond 2005 we expect to realize
the benefits of the next generation products that we will be able
to develop in this expanded area of the joint venture. This
expansion reflects our continued commitment to MDS Inc.'s broader
growth strategy of building on our current expertise." The
transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including
approval by regulatory authorities in the United States and Canada,
and is expected to close in or before the fourth calendar quarter
of 2004. Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex Joint Venture background
Based in Toronto, the Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex joint venture
was established in 1986. Its diverse product line of mass
spectrometers draws on several proprietary platform technologies,
including LC/MS/MS triple quadrupole, ion trap,
quadrupole-time-of-flight (Q-TOF instruments) and quadrupole-ion
trap (Q-TRAP(R) LC/MS/MS Systems). Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex
serves applications in protein and biomarker discovery, lead
optimization, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism, and certain
applied market applications including food and environmental
safety. MDS Sciex, a division of MDS Inc., has primary
responsibility for research and development and sole responsibility
for manufacturing of joint venture products, while Applied
Biosystems has responsibility for marketing and sales, service, and
support. 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, develop new pharmaceuticals, and
conduct standardized testing. Applied Biosystems is headquartered
in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of $1.7 billion during
fiscal 2004. The Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA) is engaged
principally in the discovery and development of targeted
therapeutics for cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Celera Genomics is leveraging its proteomic, bioinformatic, and
genomic capabilities to identify and validate drug targets, and to
discover and develop small molecule therapeutics. It is also
seeking to advance therapeutic antibody and selected small molecule
drug programs in collaboration with global technology and market
leaders. Celera Diagnostics, a 50/50 joint venture between Applied
Biosystems and Celera Genomics, is focused on discovery,
development, and commercialization of novel diagnostic products.
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/. Certain statements
in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified
by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "believe,"
"expect," "plans," and "should" 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 of new products; (2)
transfer to MDS Sciex of research and development responsibilities
previously assumed by Applied Biosystems; (3) transfer to MDS Sciex
of manufacturing operations previously managed by Applied
Biosystems; (4) achievement of synergies anticipated for the
transaction, including cost savings that are anticipated to have a
positive impact on Applied Biosystems financial performance; and
(5) 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. About MDS Sciex and MDS Inc. MDS Sciex is the
analytical instrumentation and technology solutions division of MDS
Inc.At MDS Inc., our more than 10,000 highly skilled people provide
enabling products and services for the development of drugs and the
diagnosis and management of disease. We focus on helping to
discover new drugs, assisting doctors to diagnose and treat
patients and preventing the spread of disease. Find out more about
MDS Inc. at http://www.mdsintl.com/ or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222,
24 hours a day.This document contains forward-looking statements.
Some forward looking statements may be identified by words like
"expects", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "indicates" or
similar expressions. The statements are not a guarantee of future
performance and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties.
The Company's actual results could differ materially from those
currently anticipated due to a number of factors, including, but
not limited to, successful integration of structural changes,
including restructuring plans, acquisitions, technical or
manufacturing or distribution issues, the competitive environment
for the Company's products, the degree of market penetration of the
Company's products, and other factors set forth in reports and
other documents filed by the Company with Canadian and US
securities regulatory authorities from time to time. For Research
Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. Copyright(C) 2004.
Applera Corporation. All rights reserved. Applied Biosystems is a
registered trademark and Applera, Celera, Celera Diagnostics, and
Celera Genomics are trademarks of Applera Corporation or its
subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. Q TRAP is
a registered trademark of Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX, which is a
joint venture between Applera Corporation and MDS Inc. Voyager is a
trademark of Applera Corporation and its subsidiaries in the U.S.
and/or certain other countries. DATASOURCE: MDS Inc. CONTACT:
Applied Biosystems: Media: Lori Murray, (650) 638-6130, ;
Investors: Linda Greub, (650) 554-2349, ; European Media and
Investors: David Speechly, Ph.D., (+) 44-207-868-1642, ; MDS Inc.:
Investor Inquiries: Sharon Mathers, Vice-President, Investor
Relations, (416) 675-6777 ext. 2993; Media Inquiries: Naomi Nemeth,
Director, Global External Communications, (416) 213-4692
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