Invitrogen Signs License for Cell Lines Useful in Drug Discovery; Cell Lines Will be Adapted to Serum-Free Media to Simplify Research and Bioproduction.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--May 21, 2002

The Gibco Cell Culture division of Invitrogen Corp. (Nasdaq:IVGN) today announced that Invitrogen has signed a licensing agreement with Lawrence Chasin and Gail Urlaub Chasin of Columbia University for specific Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines useful in drug discovery research and in the bioproduction of therapeutic proteins.

To further increase their utility, Invitrogen's Gibco Cell Culture division will adapt the cell lines to serum-free media, eliminating the need for animal-derived products and saving customers a significant amount of time and effort.

"Using serum-free media in research and bioproduction is critical for our drug discovery customers," said Vic Nole, president of Invitrogen's Cell Culture division. "However, some cell lines are difficult to adapt to serum-free cell culture conditions and require several months of additional research time. By pre-adapting these cells to our serum-free, chemically defined (CD) CHO Medium, we can save our drug discovery and bioproduction researchers weeks or months of time and effort."

CHO cells are a popular mammalian cell line for both research and bioproduction because they grow well and produce high yields of well-functioning protein in either research or therapeutic applications. The cell lines licensed from Dr. Chasin are dhfr (dihydrofolate reductase) negative, which can be used in conjunction with a gene of interest to produce high yields of the protein under study, either in research applications or for the commercial production of proteins.

"Many researchers and commercial customers are already familiar with dhfr negative CHO cells, but may not be using them for drug discovery or bioproduction because they have been difficult to adapt to serum-free cell culture conditions," remarked Nole. "Providing the cells pre-adapted, together with our CD CHO Medium, will offer them a user-friendly, time-saving solution. Better solutions are what our customers need -- and what Invitrogen is well-known for providing."

The license Dr. Chasin has granted to Invitrogen covers the sale of dhfr negative CHO cells for research use only. However, the license does not govern the sale of media used to maintain and grow those cells, either for research or bioproduction applications, and Invitrogen expects its customers to use the same Invitrogen media to which the dhfr negative CHO cells have been adapted. Many of Invitrogen's customers wishing to use the dhfr negative CHO cells in commercial bioproduction applications already have licenses from Dr. Chasin for that purpose.

About Invitrogen

Invitrogen Corp. develops, manufactures and markets research tools in kit form and provides other research products and services to biotechnology and biopharmaceutical researchers and companies worldwide. The company manufactures and markets thousands of products and services that simplify and improve gene cloning, gene expression and gene analysis techniques for corporate, academic and government entities. Under the Gibco(TM) brand, Invitrogen is the leading supplier of cell culture products, services and technologies for research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Invitrogen also engages in technology licensing, research services, large-scale production, and life science technical expertise and support. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in San Diego, and has operations in more than 20 countries and distributor relationships in 40 more. The company employs approximately 2,700 people worldwide. For more information about Invitrogen Corp., please visit the Web site at www.invitrogen.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release are considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and it is Invitrogen's intent that such statements be protected by the safe harbor created thereby. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: 1) the utility or timesaving nature of CHO cells in drug discovery research or bioproduction; 2) that Invitrogen's cell line will save research significant time or improve their drug discovery efforts with new cell lines, media, or other products, and 3) that Invitrogen's customers will purchase Invitrogen media to grow dhfr CHO cells. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: a) continued customer interest in the use of CHO cells for drug discovery, b) Invitrogen's ability to develop and market the new cell line, media, and related products effectively, c) whether a competitor may develop media that competes with the media Invitrogen has used in adapting the dhfr CHO cells, as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Invitrogen's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.