Applera Appoints Kathy Ordonez as President of Celera Genomics.

Business Editors

BIOWIRE2K

NORWALK, Conn.--(BW HealthWire)--April 22, 2002

Applera Corporation today announced the appointment of Kathy Ordonez as president of Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA), effective immediately. Ms. Ordonez will retain her responsibilities as president of the Celera Diagnostics joint venture with Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), and will continue to report to Tony L. White, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Applera Corporation.

In December 2000, Ordonez became the first president of Celera Diagnostics. In this role, she has led the formation of the new joint venture, defined its scientific and business strategies, assembled a seasoned staff of over 145 employees, and placed the business on a course to contribute to the future of diagnostic medicine. Over the prior 15 years, Ordonez held several senior executive positions with Hoffmann La-Roche, including as president and chief executive officer of Roche Molecular Systems for her last nine years. In this capacity, Ordonez oversaw the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology from a promising research tool to a routine diagnostic procedure practiced by thousands of clinical laboratories around the world. Prior to joining Roche, she held management and scientific positions with Baker Instruments Corp. and Union Carbide Corp.

"Kathy has a proven track record in leading successful organizations and translating new complex scientific concepts and technologies into viable, market leading businesses of significant value," Mr. White said. "Our evaluation of her business and managerial experience, compared to a wide range of external candidates, led to the conclusion that Kathy Ordonez is the best leader for both of these businesses. While her leadership is expected to facilitate scientific cooperation between Celera Genomics and Celera Diagnostics, her appointment does not signal any change to the corporate structure, or a combination of these businesses."

Jean-Luc Belingard, a member of the Applera Board of Directors and currently chief executive officer of Beaufour-Ipsen, said, "During the ten years I had the opportunity to work with Kathy Ordonez, she distinguished herself as a pragmatic, creative, high-energy, and consensus-building leader who can develop innovative medical products and deliver bottom-line results."

"Celera Genomics has a promising combination of excellent technology platforms in proteomics and genomics, outstanding people, and a demonstrated small molecule drug discovery and lead optimization capability," said Ordonez. "My first goal is to finish the work started by Tony White and the Celera executive leadership to refine Celera's drug discovery strategy and its organization. Our central mission is to build a valuable pipeline of lead candidate compounds and novel drugs for clinical trials in oncology and other select disease areas. We also plan to take advantage of our complementary capabilities and programs in therapeutics and diagnostics to fulfill the promise of individualized medicine."

Members of Celera's management, including executives with extensive experience at therapeutic companies -- David Block, M.D., chief operating officer of Celera's therapeutic business, Scott Patterson, Ph.D, vice president, Proteomics and Michael Venuti, Ph.D., general manager of Celera South San Francisco -- will assist Ordonez in the development and implementation of Celera's strategic and organizational plan.

About Applera Corporation and Celera Genomics

Applera Corporation comprises two operating groups. The Celera Genomics Group, located in Rockville, Md., and South San Francisco, Calif., is engaged principally in integrating advanced technologies to discover and develop new therapeutics. Celera intends to leverage its genomic and proteomic technology platforms to identify drug targets and diagnostic marker candidates, and to discover novel therapeutic candidates. Its Celera Discovery System(TM) online platform is an integrated source of information based on the human genome and other biological and medical sources. The Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI) develops and markets instrument-based systems, reagents, software, and contract services to the life science industry and research community. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, Calif., and reported sales of $1.6 billion during fiscal 2001. Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between Applied Biosystems and Celera Genomics, is focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of novel diagnostic tests. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available on the World Wide Web at www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800/762-6923. Information about Celera is available on the World Wide Web at www.celera.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 "believes," "expected," "planned," and "potential," 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. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance, development, and results of Celera Genomics' businesses include but are not limited to (1) expected operating losses; (2) uncertainty of revenue growth; (3) unproven use of genomics information to develop or commercialize products; (4) the lengthy and uncertain development cycle for therapeutic and diagnostic products, and Celera Genomics' unproven ability to develop or commercialize such products; (5) Celera Diagnostics' unproven ability to discover, develop, and commercialize novel diagnostic tests and the uncertainty that Celera Diagnostics will become profitable; and (6) other factors that might be described from time to time in Applera Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Note to Editors: 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.