Fisher Biosciences Licenses Expanded PCR Rights from Applied Biosystems

The agreement gives Fisher access to patents not covered inApplied Biosystems' original licensing program. For example, theexpanded program enables ABgene, a unit of Fisher Biosciences and alicensee under the original program since 1994, to offer optimizedreagents and kits for a wide range of PCR and real-time PCRinstruments. The new agreement also allows ABgene to develop a broadrange of new real-time PCR reagent products and technologies throughcollaboration with other Fisher Biosciences units.

"We are excited by the value that real-time PCR brings to ourcustomers in the rapidly growing life science research market," saidRon Lowy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fisher Biosciences."With this expanded license, we are well-positioned to respond to ourcustomers' needs. As always, we are committed to developing newproducts and technologies that serve the changing demands of science."

PCR is a key technology in life science research in which asegment of DNA or RNA is copied or "amplified" so that it can be morereadily analyzed. Real-time PCR enables the detection of amplified DNAduring the process of amplification rather than at the end, providinggreater accuracy in applications such as gene expressionquantification and genotyping.

Although the foundational patents covering the PCR process expiredin the United States in March 2005 and elsewhere in March 2006,numerous other patents related to PCR remain in force. These survivingpatents cover, for example, enzyme compositions and certain real-timePCR methods and kits. Applied Biosystems will continue to offerlicenses to these patents.

About Fisher Biosciences

Fisher Biosciences, a unit of Fisher Scientific InternationalInc. (NYSE: FSH), manufactures and supplies a wide range of productsand services across the general-chemistry and life-sciences arenas.From fine and high-purity chemicals, clinical diagnostics, proprietaryprotein-research and cell-culture products, andsterile-liquid-handling systems, to innovative RNA-interferencetechnology and high content screening, Fisher Biosciences servesscientific-research, healthcare, drug-discovery, and generalindustrial customers around the world. For more information pleasevisit www.fisherbiosci.com.

About ABgene

ABgene(R), a business unit within the Fisher Biosciences group,produces specialist products for nucleic acid amplification andbiostorage. ABgene rapidly responds to the needs of the continuallydeveloping markets of drug discovery, genomic and forensic researchand biological archiving. ABgene's product lines include PCR and QPCRreagents, molecular biology consumables and instrumentation designedto complement each other for increased productivity. ABgene isheadquartered in Surrey, U.K. For more information about ABgeneproducts visit www.abgene.com or call +44 (0) 1372 723456.