EC dairy / meat food safety project strengthens Biacore's opportunities in the Food analysis market

EC dairy / meat food safety project strengthens Biacore's opportunities in the Food analysis market Biacore announces final results of FoodSENSE demonstration project Uppsala, Sweden, 23 April, 2001. Biacore International AB (Biacore) (SSE: BCOR; Nasdaq: BCOR) today announced that an important EC food safety improvement project, FoodSENSE, has successfully demonstrated the applicability of Biacore's SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) based biosensor technology for the analysis of veterinary drug residues in foods such as milk and meat. Final results from the project have shown that substantially higher daily througput of tests can be performed using SPR technology, with the capacity to detect a much wider range of residues compared to existing test methods. The FoodSENSE project, supported by the EC Programme For Agriculture And Fisheries (EC FAIR), started in mid 1998 and involved eight other organisations from four countries. The project's aim was to determine the applicability of using optical biosensors for screening analysis of veterinary drug residues in food. To ensure that the public is protected against potentially harmful veterinary residues, such as hormones and antibiotics, government and private sector surveillance schemes operate to monitor and control the European food production industry. Although there is an extensive range of tests available, few techniques have satisfactory throughput, sensitivity or reliability. During the project, Biacore developed a new SPR-based biosensor prototype, with increased analysis capacity of one 96-well microplate in 30 minutes (equivalent to over 1,500 analyses per day). The cutting-edge technology proved to be suitable for use in such challenging environments as abattoirs and dairies and was tested in a variety of field situations on meat and dairy products, with results being compared to existing methods. The high throughput system was shown to achieve automated, multi-analyses on a range of important drug residues. Commenting on the successful conclusion to the project, Dr. Karl-Erik Hellenäs, FoodSENSE Coordinator and Senior Chemist at the Swedish National Food Administration, said "Completing the FoodSENSE project with such positive results is extremely encouraging. During the two and a half-year project we have been able to validate the technology in a number of very challenging food production sites and National Reference laboratories. We have shown that Biacore's SPR technology really improves both the reliable detection of veterinary residues and the capability of food production laboratories to assure the safety, quality and composition of food." "It is clear that the prototype delivered enormously high throughput of testing in both laboratory and industrial environments," commented Esa Stenberg, Head of Business Unit Food, Biacore. "As an example more than 20% of all carcasses in a meat factory were tested for certain antibiotic residues each day. This compares with less than 0.1% level of testing currently performed at that factory." Adding that: "The success of the prototype system in the FoodSENSE project expands the future potential of Biacore's SPR technology within food production, for analysing large numbers of food samples for residual contaminants." The FoodSENSE project also involved a team of researchers from Queen's University in Belfast, responsible for development and production of new SPR assay kits. "The high sample throughput of the prototype biosensor put great demands on the assay kits that had to be constructed for the project. Pre-coated chips were successfully developed to run up to three different analytes in one experiment", said Dr Chris Elliott, Principal Investigator at Queens University. As a result of the FoodSENSE project a new company, XenoSense Limited, has been formed, with the focus of implementing the scientific and technological advances made during FoodSENSE. As issues concerning food safety coupled to reliable means of measurement are foremost in the thinking of many it is hoped that XenoSense in partnership with Biacore will exploit the many opportunities available for fast and accurate food analysis. Biacore expects their products to be of particular use to National Reference laboratories, food producers and those involved in the food supply industry. The FoodSENSE project results are also of importance to policy makers and consumer organisations interested in the areas of public health and food safety. Ends - 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. Notes to Editors: 1 XenoSense Ltd was formed in October 2000, as a spin-off from Biacore's Food Business Unit and develops and manufactures assay kits and reagents for the analysis of food contaminants, such as veterinary medicine residues, toxins and bacteria, using Biacore's SPR technology. Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Company received initial funding from Biacore along with the University Challenge Fund, which is owned by Queens University, the University of Ulster and other private investors. XenoSense has the right to commercialize products and certain areas of research carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in Northern Ireland. 2 Biacore is a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based technology with its own sales operations in the U.S., across Europe, in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The technology is protected by a strong patent portfolio. Target groups consist primarily of medical and life science research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies all over the world. Biacore focuses on drug discovery as the prime area for future growth. The company currently has six systems on the market with its BIACORE®3000 system offering specific application in drug discovery processes upstream of high-throughput screening (HTS). A new high-performance is currently under late-stage development and will focus on applications downstream of HTS. Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the company is listed on the OM Stockholm Exchange and Nasdaq in the U.S. In 1999 the company has sales of SEK 340.4 million and an operating income of SEK 67.6 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)18-675700 Fax: +46 (0)18-150111 info@biacore.com 3 More information on the FoodSENSE project can be found at http://www.slv.se/foodsense ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/23/20010423BIT01160/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/23/20010423BIT01160/bit0001.pdf