Association for Laboratory Automation--ALA--Fuses Together Laboratory Technologies, Discovery and Development.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 2003

ALA LabFusion 2004 Brings Cutting-Edge Laboratory Science to the

East Coast

The term, "new and improved," shouts for attention from every street corner. But what if that term applied to faster, more efficient methods of ...discovering drugs to cure a scourge like AIDS...creating faster tests to pinpoint the cause of epidemics like SARS...detecting and deterring potential bio-terrorism threats? With this goal in mind, the Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA), dedicated to advancing science and education related to laboratory automation, announced today it is going to launch a new conference, ALA LabFusion, with the inaugural edition scheduled for June 12-16, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The ALA LabFusion 2004 announcement coincides with the Zymark Corporation's decision to celebrate its final edition International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics (ISLAR). October 19-22, 2003 marks the final ISLAR conference. Zymark will be the primary sponsor of ALA LabFusion 2004.

ALA LabFusion 2004 will offers participants more than 100 educational sessions and an exhibit area that focuses on enabling and emerging laboratory technologies in the life sciences industry. According to ALA President Tony Beugelsdijk, Ph.D., M.B.A., of Los Alamos National Laboratory, "Researchers attending ALA LabFusion 2004 will be exposed to new research and assays that can lead to new discoveries -- critically important to decision-making in the lab." Kevin Hrusovsky, Zymark President and CEO, underscores the importance of ALA's new five-day conference and exhibition. "After 21 years of unprecedented success with ISLAR, we welcome this natural transition to the ALA. LabFusion will bring together the laboratory automation community in the East and create untold synergies and collaborations. We also are excited about our new role as the primary sponsor of ALA LabFusion and very much looking forward to our evening event at our headquarters in Hopkinton. In addition, with our new relationship with Caliper, we are in a very positive, exciting and highly dynamic moment within our industry." ALA currently produces a West Coast conference, LabAutomation, held annually in February in San Jose, California. A few major differences distinguish ALA LabFusion 2004 from LabAutomation. Geographically, early stage lead discovery and life sciences tool kit companies, cluster in the West while larger vertically integrated pharmaceutical companies focus their research centers in Eastern states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut Maryland and Massachusetts, or in the Research Triangle in North Carolina. The programs of LabAutomation in the West and ALA LabFusion in the East will be tailored to the interest of each region. Moreover, the Boston location for ALA LabFusion 2004 will serve at least half of ALA's national audience as well as be more convenient for European attendees. "ALA LabFusion will fill a need for life science research community in the East Coast corridor of the country," said Beugelsdijk. Secondly, the Boston conference will focus on enabling technology platforms and their applications in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and life sciences industries, with focused sessions, for example, on expression profiling. Beugelsdijk said, "ALA LabFusion promises to present a blend of teaching new ways to do old things faster, new experiments and groundbreaking research." As an example, he expects to feature at least one session on protein arrays, an active, new area of research that could lead too much more rapid drug discovery. Two themes will predominate the Boston 2004 program. The first deals with automation, instrumentation and miniaturization technologies applied in the areas of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics and dynamics, pharmaceutical profiling, automated and process chemistry. The second emphasizes the business of partnership development, technology acquisitions, and licensing -- increasingly important tools to add infrastructure and fill therapeutic pipelines. For more information about ALA LabFusion 2004 or the association, log on to ALAlabfusion.org, or contact ALA at 505.988.5326.

The Association for Laboratory Automation is a worldwide organization representing leaders in all aspects of laboratory automation. ALA seeks to provide a greater understanding of the importance and value of automation technologies in laboratory settings, to advance science and promote education related to laboratory automation by encouraging the study, advancing the science and improving the practice of medical and laboratory automation.

Zymark Corporation, a pioneer and world-wide leader in the field of laboratory automation and robotics, has designed and installed over 2,700 robotic systems and thousands of workstation-based automation products for use in the research and analytical laboratory environment. The Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based manufacturer provides products and services to a multitude of high profile companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, agriculture, and food industries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.zymark.com.