Life Technologies' Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Provider Program Adds 12 New Members in US, Europe and Asia Pacific

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced that five new American, five European and two Asia Pacific sites joined the Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Provider program. Within three months of the program's launch, it's become the world's largest network of next generation-based sequencing service providers with more than 30 members representing some of the premier institutions in the industry. 

Until now, exome sequencing through a service provider has taken six to eight weeks and required as much as three micrograms of DNA. Using the Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Kit, the Ion Proton™ Sequencer, and Ion Reporter™ Software, these service providers can sequence two exomes in a single run – going from DNA to results in two days. Additionally, Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Providers require just 50 ng of DNA and offer very competitive prices, making exome sequencing accessible to any researcher. This program eliminates the need to batch samples just to make the price of exome sequencing affordable.

"Leveraging Life Technologies Ion PGM™ and Ion Proton™ next-generation sequencing platforms and an expert technical team, WuXi AppTec offers customer-focused programs to meet your exacting clinical research needs, including high-quality exome sequencing," said Heather Malicki, Scientific Director, Virology Technology Development, WuXi AppTec.

"The Ion Proton Sequencer's simple and high-throughput workflow, from sample preparation to sequencing and data analysis, is ideal for exome analysis and will allow us to better and more quickly serve our diverse global client base," said Laurent Farinelli, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Geneva-based FASTERIS SA. 

"The Ampliseq exome represents the next step in bringing sequencing to all, simplifying the workflow and dramatically reducing the time required," said Richard Allcock, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia and head of the Lotterywest State Biomedical Facility. "In doing so, it brings consistency and scalability, allowing exome sequencing to be performed economically by all laboratories."

The Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Provider program welcomes the following American, European and Asia Pacific institutions:

• Kashi Clinical Laboratories, Portland, Ore.
• RUCDR Infinite Biologics, Piscataway, N.J.
• WuXi AppTec, Philadelphia, P.A.
• Molecular Resource Center, Memphis, Tenn.
• Research and Testing Laboratory, Lubbock, Texas
• FASTERIS SA, Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland
• Eurofins MWG Operon, Ebersberg, Germany
• NIMGenetics S.L., Madrid, Spain         
• GENOMAX - Plateforme de sequencage, Strasbourg, France
• Cellcall Ltd, Budapest, Hungary
• Lotterywest State Biomedical Facility, Perth, Australia
• DNA Link, Inc., Seoul, South Korea

In addition to being faster and more affordable, the Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Kit delivers the most uniform sequencing coverage in the industry*, with up to 98 percent of bases covered at 10-fold, and up to 95 percent of bases covered at 20-fold, for a single exome. 

Customers can receive their data within hours after a sequencing run with Ion Reporter™ Software, which provides a list of mutations, including copy number variation and associated annotations drawn from dozens of public databases. It also enables service labs to access their data through the web and rich filtering tools that help them focus on the most relevant variants.

"The popularity of the Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Provider program has grown rapidly, reflecting significant underlying demand for fast, easy-to-use Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome sequencing," said Maneesh Jain, vice president of Marketing and Business Development, Ion Torrent. "The service provider program model enables customers with research projects of any size to have access to this ground-breaking technology."

The Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Certified Service Provider program is part of the Ion Certified Service Provider program. To learn more, visit: lifetechnologies.com/ioncsp.

The Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Kit, Ion Proton™ Sequencer, and Ion Reporter Software are For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

*For complete details on the performance of the Ion AmpliSeq™ Exome Kit and Ion Proton™ Sequencer, go to our web page at lifetechnologies.com/ionexome.

About Life Technologies 
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company that is committed to providing the most innovative products and services to leading customers in the fields of scientific research, genetic analysis and applied sciences. With a presence in more than 180 countries, the company's portfolio of 50,000 end-to-end solutions is secured by more than 5,000 patents and licenses that span the entire biological spectrum – scientific exploration, molecular diagnostics, 21^st century forensics, regenerative medicine and agricultural research. Life Technologies has approximately 10,000 employees and had sales of $3.8 billion in 2012.

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Life Technologies Contact:
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SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation