Life Technologies Signs Collaborative Agreement with Structural Genomics Consortium to Develop First Antibody Master Set for Epigenetic Studies

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced it has signed a collaborative partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), and several groups of leading expert scientists in antibody technology at the Universities of Chicago and Toronto, to generate a first-ever master set of quality epigenetic recombinant antibodies for use in disease-related research.  The first 58 of 200 highly-specific antibodies to be designed are now available to the scientific community.

Epigenetic regulatory proteins are involved in a wide variety of chronic diseases, such as cancer, and are the target of an explosive new field of drug discovery.  The ability to properly study most epigenetic changes, which determine which genes are "turned off and on," are determined by the effectiveness of one critical tool -- antibodies.  A lack of industry-wide standards for quality antibodies, however, has plagued the field for years and resulted in an influx of products on the market that do not perform as advertised.  The recombinant antibodies produced from the Life Technologies/SGC partnership address this important issue.

"The partnership is prepared to produce a set of 200 highly-specific, highly-sensitive antibodies that are validated for specific applications," says Dr. Aled Edwards, Director and CEO of SGC. "These 58 now being launched are the first step toward developing the defacto standard set of quality epigenetics antibodies that researchers can use for generations to come."

The recombinant antibodies are being developed by Life Technologies in partnership with the SGC, which comprises a network of more than 200 scientists from the University of Toronto and Oxford University, as well as six pharmaceutical companies, which include AbbVie, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer and Takeda.  These recombinant antibodies are renewable, meaning they are identical in performance from one lot to the next.  They are validated for consistent performance across applications for which they are intended, including immunoprecipitation.  This represents a significant improvement over existing antibodies in the market today.

Validation data and community reviews of the 58 recombinant antibodies can be found on Life Technologies' website and on 1DegreeBio.org, the world's largest open-access antibody database.  The release of the new epigenetics-targeted antibodies coincides with the launch of 1DegreeBio's new Epigenetics Portal, where epigenetics researchers can find targets, tools and product-data specific to their research.

"These reagents reflect a strong commitment from both public and private partners to address a long-standing quality issue in the community," says Alex Hodgson, Managing Director of 1DegreeBio.  "1DegreeBio is excited to support these and future reagents, and be the venue to measure their impact."

"The availability of high-quality research tools, such as Life Technologies' antibodies, will enable scientists to explore this completely new layer of biology and push the boundaries of our understanding of human disease, and facilitate the discovery of novel therapeutic targets," said Mark Stevenson, President and COO of Life Technologies.  "Our partnership with SGC in this pioneering endeavor demonstrates Life Technologies' commitment to provide the most innovative products that meet the needs of the global scientific community."

About The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC)

Located at the Universities of Toronto and Oxford, the not-for-profit organization supports the discovery of new medicines by carrying out open access research in structural and chemical biology.  More than 200 researchers in academia and in six pharmaceutical companies collaborate within SGC to accomplish these goals.  The SGC is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Genome Canada, the Ontario's Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Wellcome Trust, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer and Takeda.  More information is available at www.thesgc.org.

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 agricultural biotechnology, 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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Life Technologies Contact
Patty Zamora
760-476-7818
[email protected]

Structural Genomics Consortium
Arij Al Chawaf, PhD
416-854-2745
[email protected] 

SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation