Celera Genomics Signs Max Planck Society, Karolinska Institutet, and University of Tokyo to Database Subscription Deals.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 10, 2001

Celera Genomics (NYSE:CRA), an Applera Corporation business, announced today it signed agreements with the Max Planck Society for Advancement of Science in Germany, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and the University of Tokyo in Japan that provide multi-year subscriptions to certain Celera database products. These subscribers will access Celera's database information through its Celera Discovery System(TM). Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

"These agreements with such esteemed, international academic institutions are important in that an increasing number of researchers around the globe now have access to Celera's genomic and biological data and proprietary tools directly from their desktop," said J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., Celera's president and chief scientific officer. "The Celera Discovery System should enable researchers to expand their understanding of genomics by providing them the necessary tools to analyze and understand genes and their functions, as well as genetic variation and its connection to disease which should lead to improved medical therapies."

The Celera Discovery System is a fully integrated, web-based discovery system that allows users to leverage Celera generated and external genomic and biological data, computational tools and super-computing power to advance the discovery process for researchers worldwide.

About Max Planck Society

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science German MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN (http://www.mpg.de), is an independent, non-profit scientific research organization of Germany, headquartered in Munich. The society is funded by the Federal government and the states and does research in areas of particular scientific importance and in highly specialized or interdisciplinary fields. The society supports 80 research institutes and facilities, each of which is devoted to a separate field or group of fields covering the medical and biological sciences, chemistry, physics, and technology, and the humanities. There are Max Planck institutes devoted to such topics as molecular genetics, biochemistry, plasma physics, radio astronomy, and solid state research.

About Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet (KI) is Sweden's only university with an exclusive focus on medicine. With a total of 6,000 students, 2,300 PhD-students and about 3,500 employees it is Sweden's largest centre for medical training and research covering all areas of medical and biomedical sciences. KI accounts for 30% of the medical training and 40% of the academic medical research on a nationwide scale. During the year 2000 about 300 PhD-theses were presented at KI and some 2,000 scientific papers were published in international scientific journals by scientists from KI. The Nobel Assembly and Nobel Committee at KI are responsible for the selection of the Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine each year. KI's revenue for the year 2000 was SEK 3 billion, of which more than 50% came from non-governmental funds.

About University of Tokyo

The Center of Excellence Program (COE) is a program for the support of medical research by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. The University of Tokyo is the oldest national university in Japan. Founded more than 120 years ago, the university is one of the world's leading research institutions and covers a broad area of the medical sciences.

About Celera

Applera Corporation, formerly PE Corporation, comprises two operating groups. The Celera Genomics Group, headquartered in Rockville, MD, is a definitive source of genomic and related medical information. Celera has developed three business units: the On-line Information Business, Discovery Sciences, and Discovery Services, all of which build upon Celera's generation, integration, and analysis of biological information. Celera intends to enable therapeutic discoveries both through its own application of its scientific capabilities and in partnership with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. 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. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and proteins in order to make scientific discoveries, develop new pharmaceuticals, and conduct standardized testing. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of $1.4 billion during fiscal 2000. 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.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "estimated," 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) operating losses to date; (2) a unique and expanding business plan; (3) dependence on the final assembly and annotation of the human genome; (4) uncertainty of revenue growth; (5) unproven use of genomics information to develop products; (6) intense competition in the evolving genomics industry; (7) dependence on customers in and subject to the risks of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; (8) heavy reliance on strategic relationship with the Applied Biosystems Group; (9) lengthy sales cycle; (10) dependence on the unique expertise of its scientific and management staff; (11) uncertainty of patent, copyright, and intellectual property protection; (12) dependence on computer hardware, software, and internet applications; (13) access to biological materials; (14) legal, ethical, and social issues affecting demand for products; (15) disruptions caused by rapid growth of the business; (16) government regulation of its products and services; (17) risks of future acquisitions; (18) uncertainty of outcome of stockholder litigation; and (19) other factors that might be described from time to time in Applera Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange

Commission.

Note to Editors: Applera, Celera, Celera Genomics, and Celera Discovery System are trademarks and Applied Biosystems is a registered trademark of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the US and certain other countries.