Life Technologies and OpGen Sign Collaborative Agreement to Leverage Ion Torrent and Whole Genome Mapping Technologies

CARLSBAD, Calif. and GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) and OpGen, Inc., a commercial stage whole genome analysis company, today announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement to develop systems, technologies and applications intended to improve the management and surveillance of microbial outbreaks in the public health and infectious disease markets.

"Life Technologies is the ideal partner to demonstrate the value of next-generation sequencing in the public health and hospital laboratory," said Douglas White, chief executive officer of OpGen. "OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technologies in conjunction with the Ion Torrent system will provide a valuable new approach that will provide public health and clinical laboratories access to cutting-edge technologies for microbial analysis and outbreak management."

The rise in disease outbreaks due to food borne illnesses and hospital-acquired infections poses an ongoing threat. Public health officials and healthcare organizations need access to improved first responder technologies to rapidly identify disease causing agents in order to effectively control and contain outbreaks.

The Life Technologies-OpGen collaboration will focus on developing applications and analysis systems that enable the use of the companies' Whole Genome Mapping and Ion Torrent sequencing technologies for food outbreak and infectious disease analysis.  OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technology provides a rapid, comprehensive structural analysis of microbial genomes that, when combined with sequencing data, more accurately detects important novel genetic elements associated with toxicity, virulence and drug resistance.  As part of the collaboration, Life Technologies will also join the public health consortium recently established by OpGen to evaluate Whole Genome Mapping and sequencing for confirmation and management of disease outbreaks. 

"Just six months after we launched the PGM and released the first semiconductor sequencing chip, scientists in China and Germany used Ion's technology to decode the genome of the deadly German E. coli outbreak strain and rapidly identify its unique combination of toxins and virulence genes," said Gregg Fergus, President of Ion Torrent, part of Life Technologies. "We are excited to be collaborating with OpGen because of their focus on delivering improved infectious disease detection capabilities to PGM and Whole Genome Mapping enabled laboratories on a global basis. The PGM is the only sequencing platform with the speed, simplicity and scalability to allow public health officials to intervene in ongoing infectious disease outbreaks."

The above referenced products are for Research Use Only. Not intended for human diagnostics purposes.

About OpGen, Inc.

OpGen, Inc. is a leading innovator in providing rapid, accurate genomic and DNA analysis systems and services. The company's Argus® Whole Genome Mapping System, GenomeBuilder™ and MapIt® Services provide high resolution, whole genome maps for sequence assembly and finishing, strain typing and comparative genomics in the life sciences market. OpGen's powerful technology dramatically improves the quality of data and time-to results by providing sequence information from single DNA molecules more rapidly and less expensively than previously possible. The company is dedicated to positively influencing individual healthcare outcomes, advancing scientific research and enhancing public health by delivering precise, actionable information and results to customers in the life science and healthcare communities. OpGen's customers include leading genomic research centers, biodefense organizations, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.opgen.com.

About Life Technologies
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company with customers in more than 160 countries using its innovative solutions to solve some of today's most difficult scientific challenges. Quality and innovation are accessible to every lab with its reliable and easy-to-use solutions spanning the biological spectrum with more than 50,000 products for translational research, molecular medicine and diagnostics, stem cell-based therapies, forensics, food safety and animal health. Its systems, reagents and consumables represent some of the most cited brands in scientific research including: Ion Torrent™, Applied Biosystems®,  Invitrogen™, GIBCO®, Ambion®, Molecular Probes®, Novex®, and TaqMan®. Life Technologies employs approximately 10,400 people and upholds its ongoing commitment to innovation with more than 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses. LIFE had sales of $3.7 billion in 2011. Visit us at our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com.

Life Technologies' Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements about our anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and Life Technologies' plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by Life Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Life Technologies undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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SOURCE Life Technologies