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Invitrogen Announces Broad Kinase Screening Agreement With Locus Pharmaceuticals; Screening Program Will Utilize Invitrogen's SelectScreen(TM) Platform

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 May 2006, 09:05 CDT

Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN), a provider of essential life science technologies for disease research and drug discovery, today announced a contract to provide Locus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. with kinase screening services through its SelectScreen(TM) platform. Invitrogen's service will support Locus' internal kinase discovery programs, principally in the areas of cancer and inflammation. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kinases are a protein family involved in many major diseases that affect humans all over the world. Overexpression and mis-regulation of protein kinases are often a cause or consequence of disease. As a result, researchers are developing drugs that alter the activity of targeted kinases involved in cancer, inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, 30 percent of all drug discovery efforts are focused on targeting protein kinases.

"Working with Locus on this kinase screening program validates Invitrogen's position as a major enabler for kinase drug discovery," said Chris Armstrong, Invitrogen's Director of Customer Programs for its Drug Discovery Solutions business. "Using our expertise in kinase screening and assay design, we will provide Locus with valuable information on the selectivity, potency and mechanism of action of its rapidly expanding portfolio of protein kinase inhibitors."

A major area of focus, in the past 14 months Invitrogen has added an additional 123 distinct, human protein kinases onto its SelectScreen(TM) kinase screening panel. The current collection of 193 assays addresses therapeutically relevant targets, phylogenetic diversity and key signaling pathways. The greater availability of this technology enables researchers and scientists to develop more effective therapeutic drugs to combat these diseases.

"This relationship with Invitrogen provides a cost-efficient resource for high quality kinase products and services that enhance Locus' strategic focus on the discovery and development of small molecule protein kinase inhibitors," said Eric Springman, Ph.D., Locus' Senior Director of Biology.

"We will continue to expand the breadth of our kinase screening panel in 2006, providing our partners with a deep portfolio of different kinases to query with their drug candidates," continued Armstrong. "Simultaneously, we will build out our screening capacity to meet the ever increasing demand for new screening services."

Invitrogen's SelectScreen(TM) kinase screening capabilities are just one element of its comprehensive kinase platform, which comprises both biochemical and cellular tools for understanding kinase biology. Included in this expanding portfolio is a kinomic siRNA collection, a vast array of Phospho-site specific antibodies, a unique set of CellSensor(TM) cell-based assays for interrogating pathway biology, and multiple biochemical assay formats.

About Invitrogen

Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN) 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 4,800 professionals and had revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2005. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com.

About Locus Pharmaceuticals

Locus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a world leader in computational drug design. Its proprietary computational approaches are combined with in-house expertise in chemistry, biology and crystallography to create a fully integrated drug discovery and development platform. Locus is developing oral drug therapies to address major unmet medical needs, principally in cancer and inflammation. Locus expects to file an IND early this year for LP-261, Locus' lead oncology compound. In its inflammation program, Locus created uniquely selective p38 inhibitors that target an allosteric binding site rather than the ATP site, which may offer an improved safety profile compared to other p38 compounds under development. Earlier stage projects include a program to develop multi-kinase inhibitors, a Heat Shock Protein 90 program that is being conducted in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and a gp41 program for AIDS/HIV. All of the Company's development programs emanate from its computational technology. Locus is privately-held. Visit www.locuspharma.com for more information.

Safe Harbor Statement

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, those regarding: 1) Invitrogen's ability to expand the breadth of kinase screening products; 2) Invitrogen's technology to help enable researchers and scientists to develop more effective therapeutic drugs to combat diseases. 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) of any inability to timely create or acquire new products with the desired characteristics; and b) of the unpredictability of future demand for current or future products; as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Invitrogen's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Source: Business Wire

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