As part of the settlement, the parties will grant royalty-bearing licenses to each other. Beckman Coulter will grant Applera licenses to its patents for replaceable gels for capillary electrophoresis instruments and DNA sequencers and to its patent for a heated lid for thermal cyclers; Applera will grant Beckman Coulter licenses conferring rights in the diagnostics market to its patents for nucleic acid sequencing and real time PCR thermalcycling. Additionally, Applera's Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI - News) will make a $35 million special payment to Beckman Coulter on signing for release of any and all claims of infringement relating to DNA sequencer and thermal cycler products. Beckman Coulter will make a $20 million payment over 10 quarters to Applera's Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA - News) for rights in the diagnostics market to the referenced Applera technology. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has said it will stay its proceedings for 90 days pending completion of definitive agreements based on these terms.
About Applera Corporation
Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new pharmaceuticals. Applied Biosystems' products also serve the needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we refer to as "applied markets," such as the fields of: human identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity, which refers to products needed in response to the threat of biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, for example in food and the environment. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of nearly $1.8 billion during fiscal 2005. The Celera Genomics Group uses proprietary genomics and proteomics discovery platforms to develop molecular diagnostic products and to identify and validate novel drug targets. Celera maintains a strategic alliance in molecular diagnostics with Abbott. In addition, Celera is developing new molecular diagnostic and pharmacogenomic assays outside of its alliance with Abbott. Therapeutic antibodies against Celera-discovered drug targets are being advanced through strategic partnerships. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com.
About Beckman Coulter
Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum -- from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing -- Beckman Coulter's 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, reported 2005 annual sales of $2.44 billion with 71.5 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits, services and operating-type lease payments. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com.
Contact: Applera Corporation Peter Dworkin, 650-554-2479 dworkipg@applera.com or Beckman Coulter, Inc. Paul Whitlock, 714-773-8895 (Media) Robert Raynor, Ph.D., 714-773-7620 (Investors)
Source: Applera Corporation
