CARLSBAD, Calif. & SHANGHAI, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2005--Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN - News), a provider of essential life science technologies for disease research and drug discovery, today announced it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with the National Center for Drug Screening (NCDS), a public technology organization in Shanghai and the only national center specialized in screening for new drugs in China. The NCDS is home to thousands of unique synthetic compounds and extracts from natural products that are at the heart of traditional Chinese medicine. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
The collaborative research agreement calls for the cooperative use of proprietary Invitrogen drug discovery technologies, such as GeneBLAzer(TM) and Polar Screen(TM), as well as development of new assays and techniques specific to the collaboration. These technologies and assays will focus on the high-throughput screening of unique compound libraries against nuclear receptors at the organization.
“At Invitrogen, we are continually seeking to demonstrate the efficacy of our bioassay technologies and are especially interested in novel applications. The NCDS’ strength in natural products research and traditional Chinese medicine will significantly broaden our reach into new areas of medical technology,” said Dr. John Printen, Director, Drug Discovery Solutions at Invitrogen. “We are very excited about working with the NCDS to develop assays and screening technologies for nuclear receptors, an important target disease class that has proven quite productive in drug discovery and development. We anticipate that this relationship will yield important data about the value of Invitrogen technology for identifying small molecule modulators of nuclear receptor activity.”
“Collaborating with Invitrogen is a natural extension of our ongoing international business strategies. With an equal partnership in this transaction, we will be able to maximize the strengths of both parties in terms of technologies, resources and manpower,” said Ming-Wei Wang, Director, of the Shanghai-based NCDS. “By working closely with our colleagues at Invitrogen, we believe that a series of novel nuclear receptor-based bioassays could be quickly validated in a large-scale screening setting, and potential hits identified through this campaign will lead to further co-operations.”
About Invitrogen Corporation
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN - News) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen’s own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and cell biology -- placing Invitrogen’s products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,500 scientists and other professionals and had revenues of more than $1 billion in 2004. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com.
About The National Center for Drug Screening
The National Center for Drug Screening was jointly set up by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Municipality Government. It offers a wide-range of drug screening services and technical consultations to universities, research institutions and commercial entities across China. Using its advanced technology platforms and high quality services, and through external collaborations with biopharmaceutical research and development institutions, the NCDS is playing an indispensable role in the adequate utilization of compound resources nationwide and promotion of innovative drug development. Focusing on major diseases that affect the Chinese population (such as cancer, central nervous system diseases, metabolic disorders and infectious diseases, etc.), the NCDS is actively developing various advanced screening assays, performing large-scale compound library screening and conducting downstream studies. The establishment of the NCDS is an important milestone in modernizing China’s drug research and innovation system. For more information, please visit www.screen.org.cn.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release are considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and it is Invitrogen’s intent that such statements be protected by the safe harbor created thereby. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: 1) The NCDS will utilize GeneBLAzer and Polar Screen technologies in its screening work, in addition to developing new methods and assays; 2) The NCDS’ focus in natural products research and traditional Chinese medicine will broaden Invitrogen’s reach in medical technologies; 3) The collaboration will yield data on the value of Invitrogen’s technologies for identifying small-molecule modulators of nuclear-receptor activity; 4) Potential targets identified through this collaboration will lead to further cooperation between the organizations. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks: a) Specific technologies utilized in the collaborative work may vary; b) Invitrogen may not realize an increase in its medical technology reach; c) Data produced from the collaboration may not be indicative of Invitrogen’s technology value as a whole; and d) Invitrogen and the NCDS may not choose to collaborate on future projects, as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Invitrogen’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Contact:
Invitrogen
Greg Geissman, 760-476-7032
Gregory.geissman@invitrogen.com
or
The National Center for Drug Screening
Dr. Xin Xie
center@mail.shcnc.ac.cn
Source: Invitrogen Corporation
