BRANFORD, Conn., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 454 Life Sciences Corporation, a majority-owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corporation , today announced that the Company was selected as the Gold winner in The Wall Street Journal’s second global Technology Innovation Awards competition. 454 Life Sciences was also named the winner in the Biotech-Medical category. The awards recognize technological breakthroughs by individuals, companies and organizations from around the world in a wide range of areas including medicine, hardware, the Internet, wireless and broadcasting.
“Innovation is the key for any company to have continued success, and through these awards The Wall Street Journal recognizes these technological breakthroughs throughout the world,” said Karen Elliott House, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and senior vice president, Dow Jones & Company. “This year’s winners showed the creative thinking that has allowed them to rise to the top of their respective industries.”
The Wall Street Journal received approximately 750 applications from about two-dozen countries. The Wall Street Journal’s editors then screened the applications and selected 104 semifinalists. In selecting the winners, Journal editors looked for innovativeness, clarity of explanation and whether the innovation was covered by patents or had achieved some kind of track record.
“454 Life Sciences is pleased to have been recognized with this prestigious award from The Wall Street Journal -- an honor that further demonstrates the innovation that has gone into developing our sequencing technology,” stated Christopher K. McLeod, President and Chief Executive Officer of 454 Life Sciences. “By continuing to work towards our vision of making genome sequencing a routine occurrence we believe that we will further speed the course toward personalized medicine.”
The winners were selected by an independent panel of judges, who considered the following factors, among others, in making their selections:
* The innovation should go well beyond what already exists and cannot simply represent an incremental improvement. * The innovation needs to address major challenges for which new solutions would have a wide-ranging impact in a particular industry. * The application needs to be supported by rigorous data rather than unsubstantiated claims of potential.
The award winners can be found in the Monday, October 24, 2005 Journal Report in the print editions of The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe. The winners can also be found online at http://www.wsj.com.
About 454 Life Sciences
454 Life Sciences is commercializing novel instrumentation and services for rapidly and comprehensively conducting high-throughput nucleotide sequencing, with specific application to the sequencing of whole genomes and ultra-deep sequencing of target genes.
454 Life Sciences’ system enables one individual to prepare and sequence an entire genome after performing a single sample preparation, irrespective of the size of the genome being studied. The hallmark of 454 Life Sciences’ technology is the PicoTiterPlate(TM), which allows a single instrument using patented light emitting sequencing chemistries to produce over 20 million nucleotide bases per five-hour run, totaling more than 100 times the capacity of instruments using the current macro-scale technology. The patented Genome Sequencing 20 System is a scalable, ultra-fast and cost-effective system with applications for whole-genome sequencing and ultra-deep sequencing of genes of interest.
Six of the leading genome sequencing centers have purchased 454 Life Sciences’ systems. In addition to distributing the Genome Sequencer 20 System through Roche Applied Science, 454 Life Sciences offers sequencing services directly to customers unable to purchase their own system.
454 Life Sciences is headquartered in Branford, CT, and is a 66% majority- owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corporation . For additional information on 454 Life Sciences please visit http://www.454.com. For additional information on the Genome Sequencer 20 System and reagents please visit http://www.roche-applied-science.com.
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company , is the world’s leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation’s top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, the Journal seeks to help its readers succeed by providing essential and relevant information, presented fairly and accurately, from a dependable and trusted source. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has nearly 600 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.7 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2005, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB’s Media Power 50 for the sixth consecutive year.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements that 454 Life Sciences will (i) continue to work towards making genome sequencing a routine occurrence; and (ii) further speed the course toward personalized medicine. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. 454 Life Sciences and CuraGen caution investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: the early stage of development of 454 Life Sciences’ products and technologies; customer acceptance of 454 Life Sciences’ products and technologies; 454 Life Sciences’ ability to scale-up production of its products and technologies; disputes between 454 Life Sciences and CuraGen; the success of competing products and technologies; technological uncertainty and product development risks; uncertainties of clinical trials, government regulation and healthcare reform; uncertainty of additional funding with respect to both CuraGen and 454 Life Sciences; 454 Life Sciences’ and CuraGen’s history of incurring losses and the uncertainty of achieving profitability; CuraGen’s stage of development as a genomics-based pharmaceutical company; patent infringement claims against 454 Life Sciences’ and CuraGen’s products, processes and technologies; the ability to protect 454 Life Sciences’ and CuraGen’s patents and proprietary rights; uncertainties relating to commercialization rights; product liability exposure; and competition. Please refer to CuraGen’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2005 for a complete description of these risks. 454 Life Sciences and CuraGen disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, unless required by law.
Contacts: 454 Life Sciences Peter Dacey Vice President, Finance info@454.com (877) 890-GNOM Noonan Russo Robert Stanislaro Account Supervisor robert.stanislaro@eurorscg.com (212) 845-4268
454 Life Sciences Corporation and CuraGen Corporation
CONTACT: Peter Dacey, Vice President, Finance of 454 Life Sciences, +1-877-890-GNOM; or Robert Stanislaro, Account Supervisor of Noonan Russo,robert.stanislaro@eurorscg.com, +1-212-845-4268
