Amersham Signs License Agreements for Green Fluorescent Proteins with Two World-Leading Pharmaceutical Companies.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

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PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2002

Amersham Biosciences' Simplified Licensing Makes Popular GFP 

Technology Widely Available

Amersham Biosciences, the life sciences business of Amersham plc (LSE: NYSE: OSE: AHM), has announced the signing of licensing agreements with Pharmacia Corporation and Novartis Pharma AG, enabling the companies to use Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) vectors in their drug discovery research. Financial details were not disclosed. Amersham Biosciences is the only company that can offer comprehensive licensing for the intellectual property associated with folding and red-shifted mutations necessary to make the best use of GFP technology.

"Since we began providing GFP licenses covering the intellectual property for the complete folding and red-shifted mutation IP portfolios controlled by BioImage and PanVera LLC, access to a broad range of GFP indicators has never been faster or easier", said Michael Evans, vice president of bioassays at Amersham Biosciences. "Customers use GFP because the ability to detect interaction with a GFP-linked drug target in a live cell assay enhances the biological relevance of drug screening and provides valuable information about the function of a drug target and the bioactivity of a lead compound."

Aequorea victoria GFP is derived from jellyfish and is the best understood and most extensively published fluorescent protein. Its utility as a marker in bioassays derives from the protein's ability to give off a fluorescent signal when folded correctly. The introduction of specific mutations dramatically enhances this ability and can also change the color of the fluorescent signal, enabling the detection of multiple signals in a single assay. Following a series of strategic alliance deals with PanVera LLC (the successor to an agreement originally with Aurora Biosciences Corporation, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.) and BioImage A/S, Amersham Biosciences is able to offer in a single license the intellectual property rights necessary to utilize folding and red-shifted mutations of GFP, giving it a leading position in the GFP market.

Pharmacia and Novartis join a growing number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are using GFP as a marker in live cell assays. GFP is compatible with most fluorescent micro and macro imagers as well as plate readers. When used in conjunction with Amersham Biosciences' IN Cell Analysis System, the powerful GFP technology allows scientists to look inside live cells, study how proteins move about and function, and evaluate how drug candidates affect cellular processes.

In addition to the Research and screening licenses, Amersham Biosciences recently introduced a series of GFP Technology Evaluation Licenses (TELs) designed to allow smaller companies an opportunity to evaluate GFP technologies in their own labs as part of a single project or proof-of-principle experiment. These licenses make the benefits of Aequorea victoria GFPs more accessible to a broader audience. For additional information on GFP Technology Evaluation Licenses, please send a brief enquiry to [e-mail].

Amersham Biosciences, the life sciences business of Amersham plc (LSE: NYSE: OSE: AHM), is a world leader in developing and providing integrated systems and solutions for disease research, drug development and manufacture. Its systems are used to uncover the function of genes and proteins, for the discovery and development of drugs and for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. The customers for Amersham Biosciences' products and technologies are pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research and academic institutions, principally in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. More information about Amersham Biosciences is available at www.amershambiosciences.com.

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