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Beckman Coulter Acquires Peoples Genetics' Technologies; Acquired Technologies to Enhance Beckman Coulter's Genetic Analysis Solutions FULLERTON,Calif. (September 10, 2003) – Beckman Coulter, Inc. (NYSE:BEC) today announced they have acquired the technologies of Peoples Genetics, Inc. (PGI) of Woburn, Mass. The technologies are used for the comprehensive genetic analysis of large pooled populations of individual patient DNAs. Details of the cash transaction were not disclosed. The acquired technologies, originally developed in a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northeastern University, consist of proprietary procedures for both sample preparation and constant denaturant capillary electrophoresis (CDCE). These technologies, when applied to large pools of DNA — up to 100,000 samples — enable rapid identification and validation of low frequency mutations which contribute to common complex diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders among others. “By integrating this technology into our current genetic analysis platform, we can offer a revolutionary, high throughput, cost-effective tool to enable both the comprehensive discovery of genetic variations and the validation of their roles in major complex diseases,” said George Bers, vice president of systems biology for Beckman Coulter. “This combined solution can remove a critical discovery bottleneck currently experienced in disease association research and give Beckman Coulter the opportunity to gain market share in downstream molecular diagnostic and pharmacogenomic testing.” Due to the high analytical sensitivity of the technology and the robust statistical power inherent in using large sample numbers, researchers may for the first time economically study the involvement of low frequency mutations in complex diseases. In addition to the acquisition of technology, William Thilly, Sc.D., the former chief geneticist for Peoples Genetics and current professor of biological engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Barry L. Karger, Ph.D., the former chief technology officer of Peoples Genetics and current professor of chemistry and director of the Barnett Institute at Northeastern University, will be joining Beckman Coulter as consultants. Emphasizing the necessity of these technologies in the search for the large number of rare inherited human mutations believed to collectively create risk for common disorders, Thilly stated, “For nearly all known, but relatively rare monogenic inherited diseases, each causal gene has multiple mutations that increase risk. Our view is that genes carrying risk mutations for common diseases will show a similar pattern, with multiple mutations scattered across any of several genes. Testing this hypothesis — that any of many mutations across several genes increase risk for the same disease — requires the analysis of large populations. These technologies, for the first time, make large discovery experiments feasible and practical.” Karger emphasized the power of the CDCE method to discover essentially all mutations present in a specific DNA sample. Furthermore, he stated, “By combining PGI’s technologies of pooling and CDCE with Beckman Coulter’s genetic analysis platforms, rapid and cost-effective automated discovery of DNA mutations of low frequency will be possible for large populations.” Beckman Coulter initially plans to integrate the acquired technologies into its CEQ™ 8000 genetic analysis system, enhancing the instrument’s capabilities. Currently, the CEQ 8000 performs DNA sequencing, heterozygote detection, confirmatory sequencing, mutation analysis, SNP scoring, microsatellite instability, and amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting. Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of instrument systems, chemistries and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. At the forefront of medical discovery, in clinical research and through the often life-saving process of clinical diagnostics, Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical intelligence to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, Calif., reported 2002 annual sales of $2.06 billion with 62 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com. # # #
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