Pyrosequencing And Genomics Collaborative Partner to Develop Cardiovascular Diagnostics And Therapeutics

PYROSEQUENCING AND GENOMICS COLLABORATIVE PARTNER TO DEVELOP CARDIOVASCULAR DIAGNOSTICS AND THERAPEUTICS - Alliance combines leading genotyping technology with comprehensive clinical sample collection - Uppsala, Sweden, and Cambridge, MA, November 6, 2001 Pyrosequencing AB (Stockholm: PYRO A) and Genomics Collaborative, Inc. (GCI) announced today a partnership to accelerate the discovery and development of cardiovascular diagnostic and therapeutic products. Pyrosequencing's leading genotyping technology and intellectual property and GCI's extensive clinical samples and database will be applied to the discovery and validation of genetic markers for cardiovascular disease. GCI, a current Pyrosequencing customer, will use Pyrosequencingtm technology to generate hundreds of thousands of genotypes to associate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with disease predisposition or to drug response. "Genomics Collaborative is uniquely positioned with our Global Repository to break the genotyping gridlock that exists throughout the genomics industry today," stated Michael Pellini, CEO of Genomics Collaborative, Inc. "We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with Pyrosequencing beyond our initial work that commenced earlier this year. This is the innovative kind of collaboration that promises to deliver real value in cardiovascular product development." Building on Pyrosequencing's intellectual property involving SNPs that are strongly implicated in cardiovascular disease and drug response, GCI will use Pyrosequencing technology to analyze samples from its Global Repositorytm that includes tens of thousands of cardiovascular patients. This resource of valuable clinical material contains human DNA, serum and tissue samples that are correlated with detailed patient information. The partnership will also discover and validate new genetic markers associated with disease predisposition and response to cardiovascular drugs as well as secure related intellectual property. "This collaboration joins the only technology designed for applied genetic analysis with a very high quality clinical sample collection and related patient information," said Erik Wallden, President and CEO of Pyrosequencing AB. "Genomics Collaborative maintains a repository unparalled throughout the industry. By leveraging the combined pharmacogenomic information, intellectual property and expertise in cardiovascular disease, we will drive the development of the next generation of products addressing this very complex, but widespread disease." Cardiovascular expert Richard Kuntz, M.D., M.Sc., Chief Scientific Officer at the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Chief, Division of Clinical Biometrics, Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will act as a clinical advisor to Pyrosequencing for the research program. The collaboration will be coordinated through Pyrosequencing AB's Molecular Diagnostics Business Unit, headquartered in Westborough, MA, and through GCI's Cambridge, MA, operations. About Genomics Collaborative Genomics Collaborative, Inc. ("GCI") is a clinical functional genomic company with a comprehensive, clinical approach to discovery. GCI maintains Global Repositorytm, an unparalleled, large-scale resource of appropriately consented clinical research material, including human DNA, sera, and snap-frozen tissue samples, linked to detailed material information collected from patient populations worldwide. To date, the Company has recruited over 100,000 patients in Global Repositorytm, and collections continue in cardiovascular disease, inflammatory disease, metabolic disorders, various cancers, and other disease states. GCI and its collaborators apply a suite of high throughput genomic analysis tools in research conducted leveraging the assets of Global Repositorytm, placing the Company at the forefront of next generation target discovery and validation. GCI has also introduced GCI Access, a unique service offering to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, allowing customer access to the samples and clinical data of Global Repository. The Company's web address is www.genomicsinc.com. About Pyrosequencing AB Pyrosequencing AB develops, manufactures and sells complete solutions for rapid applied genetic analysis based on its proprietary Pyrosequencingtm Technology, a simple-to-use DNA sequencing technique. Pyrosequencing leads the global market in Applied Genomics with over 120 systems sold to major pharmaceutical and biotech companies and prestigious research institutions worldwide. Pyrosequencing AB formed a Molecular Diagnostics Business Unit earlier this year to establish the Company's proprietary technology as a standard platform for clinical genetic analysis. Capitalizing on Pyrosequencing's worldwide market leadership in applied genetic analysis, the Molecular Diagnostics Business Unit is pursuing a global strategy to identify new diagnostic product opportunities, develop clinically useful molecular diagnostic assays, and collaborate with academic and commercial partners in the fields of disease diagnosis, clinical prognosis and pharmacogenomics. Pyrosequencingtm is broadly applicable for the analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and for the identification and quantification of short DNA sequences used in bacterial and viral typing. The Company's products include the bench-top PSQtm96 System and a high-throughput PTPtm system which utilize proprietary software and reagents. Among Pyrosequencing's customers are AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, the NIH, the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, the Karolinska Institute, Biogen, Oxagen, Ltd., and DuPont Agriculture. The Company's Web address is www.pyrosequencing.com. 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," "intend," and "should," among others. These forward- looking statements are based on Pyrosequencing'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, Pyrosequencing 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. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations), variability of operating results, the commercial development of the DNA sequencing and genomics market, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics market, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy markets, competition, rapid or unexpected changes in technologies, fluctuations in demand for Pyrosequencing's products (including seasonal fluctuations), difficulties in successfully adapting the Company's products to integrated solutions and producing such products, and the Company's ability to identify and develop new products and to differentiate its products from competitors. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pyrosequencing AB Genomics Collaborative, Inc. Erik Wallden Mike Pellini, M.D. President and CEO Chief Executive Officer erik.wallden@pyrosequencing.com mpellini@genecoop.com Phone: +46 18 56 59 02 or Phone: +1 617 661 2400 070 326 98 70 Theresa McNeely Media: Sr. Director of Fern Lazar/Lazar Partners Investor/Public Relations theresa.mcneely@pyrosequencing.com flazar@lazarpartners.com Phone: +1 877 797 6767 Phone: +1 212 867-1762 Investors: John Nugent/Burns McClellan Jnugent@ny.burnsmc.com Phone: +1 212 213-0006 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/11/06/20011106BIT00320/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/11/06/20011106BIT00320/bit0002.pdf