Perkin-Elmer's Tropix Laboratory Performs Record Number of Pharmaceutical
Screening Assays
Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers
BEDFORD Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 27, 1998--
96,000 Complex, High-Throughput Tests Completed in 24-Hour Period
Tropix, a subsidiary of Perkin-Elmer (NYSE:PKN) and a center of
excellence of its PE Biosystems Division, has validated its
Allegro(TM) automation platform from Zymark Corporation by performing
96,000 pharmaceutical screening assays within a 24-hour period.
During a single day, Tropix processed a record 1,000 96-well
format microplates performing an advanced 15-step assay designed to
screen for pharmaceutical candidates that inhibit src kinase activity.
Src is an important kinase implicated in oncogenesis events related to
certain cancers.
According to Dr. Irena Bronstein, president of Tropix, "We believe
this is the first practical demonstration of what has been termed
'ultra high-throughput screening.' Many organizations engaged in drug
discovery work have talked about performing pharmaceutical screening
assays at this level of throughput, but only Tropix has delivered. In
addition, we performed the work with real-time data acquisition and
analysis."
Dr. Michelle Palmer, Tropix's director of pharmaceutical services,
said, "Performing this number of kinase assays in 24-hours would have
previously required nearly 15 conventional high-throughput robotic
screening systems, or taken 15 times as long. The throughput
capability we possess enables us to perform screens extremely quickly,
providing our customers with many benefits beyond speed. One such
benefit is maintaining assay performance during a screen which
requires reagents that are only stable for short periods of time."
Tropix expects to further increase its laboratory throughput when the
Allegro system is expanded to handle up to 400,000 assays per day.
The src kinase assay in this screen was designed under Tropix's
Xtreme Screen(TM) program, utilizing the Company's proprietary
adamantyl- dioxetane luminescence technology, which enables detection
of biological substances at extremely low levels. The Xtreme
Screen(TM) program offers pharmaceutical customers high throughput
drug discovery-screening services employing high-performance assays
using the Company's technology. The sensitive kinase assays performed
to reach this milestone were measured using two robotics-capable
Tropix TR717(TM) microplate luminometers integrated into the
Allegro(TM) automation platform.
Zymark Corporation, based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, developed
the Allegro(TM) automation platform as part of a collaboration with
Tropix. Kevin Hrusovsky, Zymark's president and chief executive
officer, said, "We're very proud to have played a role in Tropix's
achievement of a thousand plates in one day. The Allegro(TM) platform
is one of several key technologies we have developed over the past 18
months to fundamentally boost the speed and enhance the effectiveness
of drug discovery. The quick success of the Tropix installation
reinforces Zymark's commitment to deliver 'real results now'."
Tropix, located in Bedford, Massachusetts, is a world leader in
the development, manufacture, and sale of chemiluminescence detection
technology for the life sciences. The Company's Xtreme Screen(TM)
program provides a three-tiered approach to delivering advanced
chemiluminescent screening technologies. First, it provides
proprietary chemiluminescent dioxetane screening reagents to meet the
stringent demands of yielding high quality data across a wide range of
assay types in a single platform at extreme throughput levels in a
cost-effective manner. Second, it rapidly develops custom screening
assays for deployment on screening systems at the user's site. Third,
it offers a complete service to perform advanced screens at rates of
100,000 samples per day with in-house or customer-supplied libraries,
bringing extremely rapid turnaround on large or small screening
projects. The combination of the three elements significantly
contributes to accelerating the drug discovery timelines of
pharmaceutical company clients.
The Perkin-Elmer Corporation is a leading supplier of systems for
life science research and related applications. It develops,
manufactures, and markets life science systems and analytical
instruments used in markets such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology,
forensics, environmental testing, food, agriculture, and chemical
manufacturing. Headquartered in Connecticut, Perkin-Elmer had revenues
of approximately $1.5 billion in fiscal 1998 and employs more than
6,500 people worldwide. Information about Tropix is available on the
World Wide Web at tropix.com. Information about Perkin-
Elmer is available on the World Wide Web at perkin-
elmer.com or by phoning (800) 762-6923.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking.
These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases
such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned,"
"estimated," and "potential," among others. These forward-looking
statements are based on the Company's current expectations. The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe
harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with
the terms of the safe harbor, the Company notes that a variety of
factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially
from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that may
affect the operations, performance, development, and results of the
Company's businesses include but are not limited to (1) complexity and
uncertainty regarding the development of new high-technology products;
(2) loss of market share through competition; (3) introduction of
competing products or technologies by other companies; (4) pricing
pressures from competitors and/or customers; (5) changes in the life
science or analytical instrument industries; (6) changes in the
pharmaceutical, environmental, research, or chemical markets; (7)
variable government funding in key geographical regions; (8) the
Company's ability to protect proprietary information and technology or
to obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms; (9) the
loss of key employees; (10) fluctuations in foreign currency exchange
rates; (11) the development of new sequencing strategies and the
commercialization of information derived from sequencing operations;
and (12) other factors that might be described from time to time in
Perkin-Elmer's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
|
