Biacore and BD Biosciences Pharmingen collaborate to increase biological evaluations in drug discovery

BIACORE AND BD BIOSCIENCES PHARMINGEN COLLABORATE TO INCREASE BIOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS IN DRUG DISCOVERY Uppsala, Sweden, July 3, 2002 Biacore International AB (Biacore) (SSE: BCOR; NASDAQ: BCOR) today announced it has entered into a research collaboration with BD Biosciences Pharmingen for the development of applications for its microarray chip technology. Biacore is developing an array based on its proprietary Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology that is expected to significantly increase the number of detailed biological evaluations in drug discovery. Biacore views this latest agreement as complementary to its earlier collaboration with Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., bringing additional biological expertise into the SPR array development program. The collaboration with BD Biosciences Pharmingen provides access to antibodies and reagents to support Biacore's technology platform specifically for the protein array market. BD Biosciences Pharmingen is a leader in the manufacture of monoclonal antibodies, protein expression systems, and recombinant proteins using advanced bioprocessing techniques. It is part of BD Biosciences, one of the world's largest businesses supporting the life sciences. BD Biosiences provides high- quality products and services to accelerate discovery and diagnosis in the life sciences and is a business segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company, NYSE: BDX). Under the agreement, Biacore will be responsible for supplying instrumentation and expertise in the area of SPR detection and array technology. BD Biosciences Pharmingen will characterize and validate antibodies for SPR analysis and provide access to reagents for evaluation on the SPR array platform. BD Biosciences Pharmingen and Biacore will also collaborate on identifying new applications for the Biacore array platform. Biacore's SPR array platform is being designed to meet the needs of customers working on a range of key drug discovery applications, including protein-protein interactions. Biacore has pioneered the SPR non-label approach for protein detection since the 1980's, and the technology has now become the gold standard for the industry with greater than 2,500 peer-reviewed scientific articles. The SPR array platform will build on this leadership position, offering higher throughput and the ability to study panels of proteins simultaneously. Coupled with the advantages of high quality kinetic information and real time analysis, Biacore is well placed to continue its growth in functional proteomics and extend into the emerging protein array market. The BD Biosciences Pharmingen agreement will play an influential part in the development of the platform into these market segments. "Biacore is committed to investing in cutting edge technologies that will define drug discovery and development in the post-genomic age, and the Company is focused on building collaborations that enhance our offering by accessing biological expertise," said Julian Abery, VP and Head of the Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Business Unit at Biacore. "BD Biosciences Pharmingen has a world leading position in the antibody reagent market, and we look forward to building a strong relationship with them in our ongoing array development program." "We are pleased to work with Biacore as the pioneers in non-label bioanalytical technologies," said Lalit Dhir, VP of Business Development at BD Biosciences Pharmingen. "We expect a productive relationship that opens up the possibility of novel applications for our wide collection of antibodies to provide innovative tools to researchers all over the world in the field of proteomics ". -ENDS- Cautionary Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which, by their nature, involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. About Biacore Biacore is a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology based systems with its own sales operations in the U.S., across Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. A strong patent portfolio protects Biacore's SPR technology, which gives unique real- time insights into biomolecular interactions. Target groups for the Company's products consist primarily of medical and life science research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world. Biacore is focusing on drug discovery and development as its prime areas for future growth. The Company currently has seven systems on the market, the most important of which are: Biacore®S51 for applications downstream of high-throughput screening (HTS) including rapid characterization of HTS hits, and the comprehensive pre-clinical evaluation of lead compounds, and Biacore®3000, which offers flexibility in key life science research and drug discovery applications upstream of HTS. The recently introduced Biacore®C is specifically designed for compliant concentration analysis of biopharmaceuticals in GLP/GMP applications. A new SPR array chip system, which will provide higher information content is expected to reach the market in 2004. Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the Company is listed on Stockholmsbörsen and Nasdaq in the U.S. In 2001 the Company had sales of SEK 544 million and an operating income of SEK 64 million. Further information on Biacore can be found on the web: www.biacore.com Address and phone: Biacore International AB Rapsgatan 7, SE-754 50 Uppsala, SWEDEN Phone: +46 (0)18-67 57 00 Fax: +46 (0)18-15 01 10 e-mail: info@biacore.com For further information, please contact: Julian Abery, Biacore AB Vice President, Head of Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Unit +44 (0)1386 853 949 +44 (0) 78 089 007 32 (mobile) julian.abery@biacore.com Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries: Michelle Lerner, HCC De Facto Group +44 (0) 207 496 3354 m.lerner@hccdefacto.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/07/03/20020703BIT00530/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/07/03/20020703BIT00530/wkr0002.pdf