Pre-configured and Validated Solution Reduces the Cost and Time Associated With Implementation

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 2007--Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced a new laboratory information management system (LIMS) that is expected to help pharmaceutical companies maintain regulatory compliance and decrease the cost of managing their manufacturing operations. The SQL*LIMS(R) Plug and Play Pharma Package(TM) solution is a pre-configured and validated LIMS developed specifically for the pharmaceutical industry that has been shown to reduce up-to 85% of the cost and as much as 75% of the time associated with deployment(1).

Software-based LIMS solutions are used by pharmaceutical companies to manage their drug development and manufacturing processes. This includes tracking raw materials and samples as they enter and travel the laboratory workflow. Maintaining best practices and consistency in these operations are necessary for complying with regulatory requirements and ensuring a safe and reliable supply of pharmaceutical products.

The deployment and validation of LIMS software has traditionally been expensive and time consuming. The validation process alone requires that a company audit the LIMS system to demonstrate that it adheres to specific national and international regulations such as operational procedures, security definitions, and testing methods. As a result, considerable time and expense are often spent in designing, customizing, and validating traditional LIMS systems, which can significantly increase the total cost of the overall solution.

Analysis conducted by Applied Biosystems indicates that a typical LIMS implementation takes approximately eight months, with most of that time spent configuring and validating the system. Because SQL*LIMS Plug and Play Pharma Package is specifically designed and validated for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, Applied Biosystems' customers have been able to implement the system in as little as two months.

Kern Pharma, S.L, a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company based in Spain is one of the first organizations to implement the SQL*LIMS Plug and Play Pharma Package. This particular pharmaceutical company was attracted to the solution's out-of-the-box functionality that allows it to be implemented with minimal reallocation of human resources away from their primary manufacturing responsibilities.

"What makes SQL*LIMS Plug and Play Pharma Package unique is that it arrives ready to deploy, with the operational functionality required for managing the pharmaceutical manufacturing process," said Albert Almajano, IT project manager at Kern Pharma. "We expect that SQL*LIMS Plug and Play Pharma Package will become an integral part of our ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and maintain regulatory compliance in our drug development and manufacturing operations."

Applied Biosystems designed SQL*LIMS Plug and Play Pharma Package as a complete solution that integrates critical functions involved in drug manufacturing operations with the computer hardware and an Oracle database that enables distribution across an enterprise. The pre-configured functionality enables system administrators to easily activate user definitions, security parameters, reporting templates and testing methods issued by national and international regulatory bodies. This can help pharmaceutical companies who are upgrading their existing LIMS as well as those who are new to manufacturing to quickly implement a validated system that incorporates industry best practices and meets regulatory requirements.

"Pharmaceutical companies are too often spending excessive time and money on building and implementing business solutions that require skill sets or other cost-related resources that take away from their core business purpose," said John Bainbridge, general manager for the LIMS business at Applied Biosystems. "To help these customers, we've taken everything Applied Biosystems has learned about laboratory information management systems and have packaged it into a complete solution that significantly decreases the time and costs associated with LIMS deployments. This enables pharmaceutical companies to focus on what they do best, which is developing and manufacturing drugs."

Applied Biosystems has been a global leader in providing LIMS technology for more than 25 years. Today, more than 30,000 professionals worldwide use the company's SQL*LIMS(R) Software in industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, chemical and petrochemical manufacturing, environmental science, food and beverage production, and forensic analysis. For more information, please visit: http://info.appliedbiosystems.com/sqllims.

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 approximately $2.1 billion during fiscal 2007. 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 as well as other known markers. Celera maintains a strategic alliance with Abbott 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 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 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, "planned," and "expect," 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) sales dependent on customers' capital spending policies and government-sponsored research; and (3) 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.

(1) The reduction of cost and time estimates are based on internal Applied Biosystems test results.

Applera, Applied Biosystems, AB (Design), and SQL*LIMS are registered trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the US and/or certain other countries.

(C)Copyright 2007. Applied Biosystems. All rights reserved.

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CONTACT: Applied Biosystems
Colin Sanford, 203-661-0372 (Media)
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SOURCE: Applied Biosystems