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Biotech / Medical : Aclara Biosciences (ACLA) - The next small thing? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tuck who wrote (15)	4/2/2003 3:29:17 PM
From: tuck	Respond to of 16

No details = no market reaction: >>MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and PISCATAWAY, N.J., April 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACLARA BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACLA - News) and Amersham Biosciences, the life sciences business of Amersham plc (LSE,OSE, NYSE: AHM), today announced a joint marketing and service agreement for the purpose of marketing MegaBACE(TM) DNA Analysis Systems from Amersham Biosciences in combination with ACLARA BioSciences' eTag(TM) Assay System. Under this non-exclusive agreement Amersham Biosciences will continue to sell and support MegaBACE, its automated high-throughput DNA analysis system, as a stand-alone system, but also for use with the ACLARA eTag assay chemistries and applications. ACLARA will promote MegaBACE as a validated system for eTag assay detection, and will continue to sell and support its eTag assay chemistries and applications. By using the eTag Assay System with MegaBACE DNA Analysis System from Amersham Biosciences, researchers will be able to perform a number of different assay types on a single system and realize increases in sample throughput capabilities. The eTag Assay System from ACLARA is a high performance, high throughput system that makes it possible for researchers to adopt a systems biology approach towards studies of gene expression, protein expression, cell signaling and pathway activation, protein-protein interaction, cell receptor binding, and more. MegaBACE DNA Analysis System from Amersham Biosciences uses capillary electrophoresis to perform a wide range of applications, and integrates optimized hardware, software and reagents into a system that can be scaled to meet the varying demands of genomics laboratories and core facilities engaged in drug discovery research. "We are very pleased that Amersham Biosciences will be promoting the use of our eTag proteomic and genomic assays on MegaBACE instruments," stated Dawn Madden, ACLARA's Vice President of Marketing. "Scientists using MegaBACE will find that they can easily perform eTag assay chemistries on these instruments. We believe that with Amersham Biosciences' support, researchers will have greater confidence that their experiments will be reproducible and portable across their departments and among various other laboratories." "We are excited to team with ACLARA to support the eTag Assay System with our industry-leading MegaBACE to help accelerate the discovery of lead drug candidates," said Andy Bertera, Vice President of Genomics Product Management at Amersham Biosciences. "The eTag Assay System leverages our high throughput MegaBACE systems and will help provide researchers with the capability of studying 10s to 100s of genes, proteins and cell-surface receptors across thousands of samples." The eTag Assay System uses ACLARA's proprietary eTag reporters to multiplex the analysis of genes and/or proteins from the same sample. Specific molecular binding events result in the release of electrophoretically distinct eTag reporters, which are then resolved to provide precise, sensitive quantitation of multiple analytes -- directly from cell lysates. ACLARA's eTag Assay System is being commercialized under the eTag Expert Access Program, which provides affordable access to one or more applications: gene expression profiling, protein expression analysis, and cell-surface antigen assays. This license-based program for research use makes it easy for scientists to enter and grow at their own pace, and includes eTag assay reagent kits and software, custom assay services, and consulting support. ACLARA scientists have also developed breakthrough drug discovery applications using the Assay System platform. Through the Discovery Partners program, ACLARA's partners will have access to these applications, allowing them to discover and adopt novel targets, lead compounds, protein and antibody therapeutics, and diagnostics.<< snip Cheers, Tuck