PE Biosystems' ABI PRISM 3700 DNA Analyzer Receives Wide Acceptance.

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--March 25, 1999--PE Biosystems, a division of Perkin-Elmer (NYSE: PKN), has received more than 500 orders for its new ABI PRISM(R) 3700 DNA Analyzer. Included in this number are 36 additional systems recently ordered by The Sanger Centre in Cambridge, England, one of the instrument's test sites, and the previously announced order for 230 units from Celera Genomics. Four months after shipments of the 3700 began, there are more than 50 instruments operating in 15 test sites around the world.

Commenting on the significance of the newly introduced sequencer to the human genome initiative, Tony White, chairman, president and CEO of Perkin-Elmer, said, "As the pace of genomic sequencing accelerates throughout the world, we are rapidly nearing an era in which genomic information will have a profound effect. The science of biology and its applications to medicine, agriculture, and other fields is being fundamentally transformed by creative scientists armed with new technologies. We are pleased to be contributing to the advancement of these fields through our innovative technologies."

Michael W. Hunkapiller, Ph.D., senior vice president of Perkin-Elmer and president of its PE Biosystems Division, added, "We are very pleased with the success of the 3700. Its early acceptance and continued strong demand are evidence that this system provides a significant advance in automation for production-scale sequencing and genotyping. More than half of our test sites have requested shipments of additional systems."

The Sanger Centre's Jane Rogers, Ph.D., Human Sequencing and Mapping project manager, remarked, "Automation of so many of the steps required by other systems makes the 3700 an attractive option for high-throughput sequencing. Since it takes only 10-15 minutes of operator time to run four plates of samples, many of our resources can be re-deployed to support this throughput increase in other areas of the production process." The 3700 represents a 60 percent increase in throughput compared with the existing, commonly used technology - combined with a seven-fold decrease in labor required.

Operation of the 3700 is consistent from run to run, and equal or fewer lane failures occur than with previous capillary and slab gel sequencers. The instrument can sequence plasmid, BAC end, and double-stranded templates and can be used with PE Biosystems' BigDye Primer and Terminator chemistries and Linkage Mapping Set Version 2 fragment analysis chemistries as well as with various other chemistries.

PE Biosystems is now in the final stages of development on the 3700. Now that data are available from the various test sites, finishing touches can be put on basecalling and mobility algorithms, which will be optimized for length of read. Development and optimization do not end with the initial release of the product. After the initial release, as with all DNA analyzers developed by PE Biosystems, the 3700's performance will continue to be enhanced over time with updates to software and chemistry.

The Perkin-Elmer Corporation currently comprises three operating divisions. The PE Biosystems Division, with sales of $922 million during fiscal 1998, supplies instrument systems, reagents, software, and related services to the life science industry and research community. The ABI PRISM(R) 3700 DNA Analyzer includes patented technology licensed from Hitachi, Ltd. as part of a strategic partnership between Perkin-Elmer and Hitachi, Ltd., as well as patented technology of Perkin-Elmer. The Analytical Instruments Division, which the Company has entered into an agreement to sell, had sales of $609 million during fiscal 1998 and is a leader in supplying a broad range of instruments to the pharmaceutical, environmental, food, chemical, petrochemical, and related industries. Celera Genomics, a newly formed business unit, intends to become the definitive source of genomic and related medical information. Headquartered in Connecticut, Perkin-Elmer had revenues of more than $1.5 billion in fiscal 1998 and employs more than 7,000 people worldwide. Information about Perkin-Elmer is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.perkin-elmer.com or by phoning [phone].

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 Perkin-Elmer'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, Perkin-Elmer 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 Perkin-Elmer's businesses include but are not limited to (1) dependence on new products; (2) sales dependent on customers' capital spending policies and government-sponsored research; (3) claims for patent infringement; (4) significant overseas operations; (5) future growth strategy; (6) uncertainty of success of Year 2000 compliance; (7) earthquakes; and (8) other factors that might be described from time to time in Perkin-Elmer's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Editors note: This release and a supplementary product backgrounder that further describes the technical features of the 3700 DNA Analyzer are also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.noonanrusso.com.