NISKAYUNA, N.Y., ROCKVILLE, Md. & ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2004--
Initial Project to Focus on Novel Markers and Imaging Agents for Cancer
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), through GE Global Research, along with Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA), an Applera Corporation business, and Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between Celera Genomics and the Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI) of Applera, today announced a joint research collaboration intended to accelerate the discovery and development of new products for personalized, or targeted, medicine. The parties will seek to understand and differentiate disease at the molecular level, which is expected to lead to new diagnostics and treatments that are tailored for a specific disease and/or patient population.
The first project outlined in the research collaboration is intended to support GE's development of novel imaging agents for cancer that selectively target cell surface proteins that Celera Genomics has identified to be associated with cancer. These cell surface proteins are also the basis for complementary drug discovery programs undertaken by Celera Genomics and its partners.
"With diagnostics and therapeutics converging in today's healthcare market, GE, Celera Genomics and Celera Diagnostics make great research partners to tackle the tough technical challenges associated with personalized medicine," said Scott Donnelly, senior vice president of GE Global Research. "Through the combined strength of the research teams from these companies, GE will be able to bring revolutionary imaging diagnostics to market and provide Celera Genomics the imaging tools they need to analyze the effectiveness of their targeted therapeutics."
"We share GE's commitment to the earlier detection and treatment of disease. Coupling new in vitro diagnostics with in vivo imaging and targeted therapies should dramatically improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease," said Kathy Ordonez, President of Celera Genomics and Celera Diagnostics. "This collaboration complements our internal and partnered therapeutic programs, positioning us to make breakthrough discoveries and to convert them into products."
Collaboration Details
The master agreement between the parties describes the relationship and fields of practice among these businesses for technology developed through the collaboration. Specific collaboration projects are to be carried out under a disease-, product- or technology-focused project agreement that describes specific work plans, as well as the sharing of responsibilities and value. The first project agreement establishes a collaborative program to support GE's development of novel imaging agents for cancer that selectively target cell surface proteins. Under this project agreement, GE will have exclusive access to selected protein targets for research and development of medical imaging agents. The parties will share certain responsibilities and costs associated with research and development, as well as value from commercial products resulting from the project.
The parties have established a second project related to bioinformatics that supports the development of new algorithms and tools to advance the diagnostic and/or therapeutic programs of the collaboration partners. New project agreements related to other disease areas or tools that facilitate the creation of enabling technology and products may be added in the future.
About Personalized, or Targeted, Medicine
Transformational medical technologies are shaping a new age of personalized medicine, in which disease is detected at an earlier stage and treatments are tailored to patients based on genetic factors and the sub-classification of their disease. Personalized medicine encompasses in vivo and in vitro diagnostics to assess disease risk, identify and characterize disease, monitor patients for disease onset, and to select therapy and measure therapeutic response. New in vivo imaging agents would target differentially expressed cell surface proteins that are selectively found on diseased cells. Therapeutic antibodies and small molecule drugs may also target these cell surface proteins. New diagnostic tests based on medical imaging, genomics, proteomics, and information technology are expected to contribute to an improved molecular understanding of disease and to accelerate the development of targeted therapies.
About GE Global Research
GE Global Research is one of the world's most diversified industrial research organizations, providing innovative technology for all of GE's (NYSE:GE) businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, and is now focused on developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as molecular medicine, alternative energy, nanotechnology, advanced propulsion and security technologies. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China, and Munich, Germany. Visit Global Research at www.research.ge.com.
About Celera Diagnostics, Celera Genomics and Applera Corporation
Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Celera Genomics Group, located in Rockville, MD, and South San Francisco, CA, is engaged principally in integrating advanced technologies to discover and develop new therapeutics. Celera Genomics intends to leverage its proteomic, bioinformatic, and genomic capabilities to identify and validate drug targets, and to discover and develop new therapeutics. Its Celera Discovery System(TM) online platform, marketed exclusively by Applied Biosystems, is an integrated source of information based on the human genome and other biological and medical sources. The Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI) serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of $1.7 billion during fiscal 2003. 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 www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Celera Genomics is available at www.celera.com.
For General Electric: "This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements about the expected future business and financial performance of GE. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from these expectations and assumptions due to changes in global political, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise."
For Applera Corporation:
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," "intend," "anticipate," "should," "planned," and "potential," among others. 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. The risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to (1) unproven ability of Applera and GE to successfully manage and operate the collaboration; (2) uncertain suitability of cell surface proteins discovered by Celera Genomics as targets for imaging agents; (3) Celera Genomics' and Celera Diagnostics' unproven ability to discover, develop, or commercialize proprietary therapeutic or diagnostic products; (4) uncertainty as to whether new diagnostics from GE or Celera Diagnostics will enable therapeutic discovery and development at Celera Genomics; (5) possibility that the collaboration may not develop new bioinformatics tools, or that these tools will not support therapeutic and diagnostic programs of Applera's businesses; (6) possibility that Celera Diagnostics may not receive value from the cancer imaging diagnostic project, in the event the collaboration research fails to result in the development of commercial imaging agents by GE; and (7) 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) 2004. Applera Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Applied Biosystems, Celera, Celera Diagnostics and Celera Genomics are registered trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and certain other countries.
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