Ambion and Applied Biosystems Combine siRNA and Real-Time PCR Products

Austin, TX, January 19 , 2004 – Ambion today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, to exclusively co-market Ambion's siRNA products and Applied Biosystems real-time PCR reagents to offer a complete solution for performing and monitoring the gene knockdown effects of RNA interference (RNAi) in mammalian systems. Ambion and Applied Biosystems will co-market the products, and Ambion will use Applied Biosystems' TaqMan® Assays-on-Demand™ Gene Expression Products to validate their premium siRNA products. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

RNAi technology is greatly accelerating the functional characterization of disease-relevant genes for drug discovery and basic research efforts. Ambion provides the widest range of products for performing RNAi related research, including functionally validated siRNAs targeting commonly studied human genes and siRNA libraries targeting druggable target classes such as protein kinases and G protein-coupled receptors. These products, as well as ready-to-make siRNAs targeting the human, mouse, and rat genomes, will be co-marketed with Applied Biosystems' TaqMan® Assays-on-Demand™ Gene Expression Products.

TaqMan Assays-on-Demand Gene Expression Products comprise a comprehensive collection of pre-designed TaqMan® probe and primer sets for quantitative, real-time PCR gene expression studies. Assays are available for the human, mouse, and rat genomes, complementing Ambion's pre-designed, validated and library siRNA product lines. The TaqMan Assays-on-Demand Gene Expression Products can be used to verify that the siRNAs used in specific experiments have resulted in the desired level of knockdown.

Matt Winkler, CEO and CSO of Ambion, commented, “The ability to easily and specifically knock down target gene expression by siRNA represents one of the most useful and powerful life science tools to be developed since the advent of PCR. Combining Ambion's expertise in siRNA with Applied Biosystems' expertise in quantitative, real-time PCR should help life science researchers realize the full potential of RNAi in their own labs.”

“The TaqMan Assays-on-Demand™ product line was the first set of genome-wide tools to result from the sequencing efforts of the last 10 years,” said Andrew J. Last, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager of Gene Expression, Core PCR, and DNA Synthesis for Applied Biosystems. “Combining the gold standard of TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR technology with RNA interference products should enable the bench researcher to more efficiently determine gene function and how knocking down one gene can affect other genes downstream.”

About Ambion
Ambion, Inc. — The RNA Company® — is a leader in the development and supply of innovative RNA-based life science research and molecular diagnostic products. Ambion has taken a leadership role in developing products for RNAi applications and for the handling, preserving, isolating, detecting, and measuring of RNA in areas such as molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, drug discovery, and genomics. For more information, please visit the company's web site www.ambion.com.

About RNAi
RNA interference, or RNAi, is a powerful new approach for achieving targeted gene silencing using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as the triggering agent. Discovered in 1998, this technology has been shown to work in a wide range of animal models, and was voted the top scientific achievement of 2002 by Science Magazine. RNAi is a naturally occurring, highly catalytic gene regulation system, thought to have evolved primarily as a defense mechanism against molecular pathogens. In mammalian systems, RNAi can be effectively induced by introduction of small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs — 19-23 base pair double stranded RNA molecules. Use of siRNAs avoids the mammalian antiviral response, which is triggered by long dsRNA. Used as a research tool and potential therapeutic, RNAi offers an unprecedented combination of: 1) high potency, specificity and scalability; 2) wide cross species applicability; and 3) excellent experimental reproducibility. As a result, RNAi has rapidly become the new method of choice, replacing conventional antisense and ribozyme technologies, to determine gene function for a wide range of biomedical applications.