Applied Biosystems/ U.S. Department of Defense Contract for Prototype Instrument System to Identify Infectious Diseases Terminated.

System Met Technical Milestones; Parties Could Not Agree on Further Development and Commercialization

FOSTER CITY, Calif. -- Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, announced today that its contract with the U.S. Department of Defense surrounding the development of a prototype instrument system to improve the way infectious diseases are identified for epidemiological and biosecurity purposes has been terminated for the convenience of the government. Though Applied Biosystems had successfully completed all technical milestones required to date in the contract, the action was taken by the government after Applied Biosystems and the U.S. Air Force were unable to agree on an approach for further development and commercialization of an instrument system that could be derived from an AB prototype instrument. Applied Biosystems anticipates no material financial impact from the contract termination.

Applied Biosystems expects that its biosecurity strategy will continue to focus on delivering early warning systems for detecting and tracking emerging natural and man-made pathogens in the environment, in agriculture, and in the animal and human food supply.

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 over $1.9 billion during fiscal 2006. 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. Celera maintains a strategic alliance with Abbott Laboratories 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 to develop therapeutic products based on these discovered targets through strategic partnerships. 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/.

Copyright(c) 2007. Applera Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Applied Biosystems, AB (Design), and Celera are registered trademarks, and Applera and Celera are trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries.