PE Biosystems Obtains License for Universal Chip Technology.

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--May 24, 1999--

PE Biosystems (NYSE: PEB), a PE Corporation business, announced today that it has received an exclusive license for hybridization array technology covered under a pending patent entitled, "Detection of Nucleic Acid Sequence Differences Using the Ligase Detection Reaction with Addressable Arrays." The array technology provides a universal chip platform for mutation detection in research applications.

"This addressable hybridization array technology adds another important tool to the PE Biosystems portfolio of intellectual property for next-generation genetic analysis systems," says Dr. Michael Hunkapiller, president of PE Biosystems. "It will complement other technologies from the company including the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Oligonucleotide Ligation Assay (OLA) chemistries."

The array technology has the ability to detect nucleotide variations (including single-nucleotide variations, insertions, and deletions) in complex samples. Being highly amenable to automation, PE Biosystems plans to develop the technology for a variety of genetic analysis applications.

Specificity of the test using the new array technology is achieved by employing PCR and ligation chemistries in solution before the sample is introduced to a universal array of probes attached to a solid support. In contrast, many other chip developers depend on the DNA probes on the array to provide test specificity, requiring custom array design thereby limiting the chip's application.

Development of this licensed technology is part of a larger miniaturization research and development program at PE Biosystems. Miniaturization of several core biochemical processes now in progress should provide significant benefits in terms of throughput, automation, and cost in many core areas of genetic analysis such as sample preparation, quantitative PCR, electrophoresis and hybridization arrays.

This addressable hybridization array technology was developed primarily in the laboratory of Professor Francis Barany at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. PE Biosystems has had a five-year collaboration with the Barany laboratory.

Development of the technology was funded in part by a grant from the Advanced Technology Program of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) that was awarded to PE Biosystems in 1995.

Licensors of the array and related intellectual property comprise a consortium of universities, including Cornell Research Foundation, Inc., California Institute of Technology, Purdue Research Foundation, Regents of the University of Minnesota and Louisiana State University.

PE Corporation currently comprises two operating groups. The PE Biosystems Group, with sales of $940 million during fiscal 1998, develops and markets instrument-based systems, reagents, software and contract-related services to the life science industry and research community. PE Biosystems consists of the Applied Biosystems, PerSeptive Biosystems, PE Informatics, and Tropix divisions. The Analytical Instruments business, which the company has reached agreement to sell, is reported as a discontinued operation within PE Biosystems. The Celera Genomics Group, a newly formed business unit, intends to become the definitive source of genomic and related medical information. Information about the Company is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.perkin-elmer.com or by phoning 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 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) Year 2000; (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.

PE and PE Biosystems are trademarks of The Perkin-Elmer Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and certain other countries. The PCR process is covered by patents owned by Roche Molecular Systems Inc., and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.