ABI and Hitachi Renew Product Development Agreement

Applied Biosystems Group, an Applera Corporation business, has announced that it has entered into an exclusive collaboration agreement with Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, an affiliate of Hitachi, Ltd., to develop and commercialize capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based DNA analysis technologies.

This agreement extends the term of and also amends an existing collaboration agreement that began in 1997.

Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Biosystems and Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation will continue to be exclusive collaborators in the development and commercialization of CE-based instruments for research, applied market, and diagnostic applications.

The current product line includes the Applied Biosystems 3130 and 3730 series DNA analyzers.

"As a global leader in DNA sequencing technology, Applied Biosystems is very pleased to renew its highly successful collaboration with Hitachi High-Technologies to further develop gold-standard capillary electrophoresis technology," said Catherine M. Burzik, President of Applied Biosystems.

"Our capillary electrophoresis systems were instrumental in the completion of the Human Genome Project and continue to drive the expansion of genetic analysis applications such as resequencing, genotyping for clinical research, or human forensic identification."

"Additionally, Applied Biosystems is developing non-capillary electrophoresis technologies internally and through external collaboration."

"Hitachi High-Technologies is pleased with the renewal of this collaboration and hopes that, through it, the capillary electrophoresis DNA sequencing business will continue to grow in commercial market segments outside of the research market," said Katsuji Yamashita, Senior Vice President of Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation.

"We will also continue to develop new technologies to serve future demands of the genetic analysis market."