Life Technologies and ProBioGen AG Announce Freedom(TM) Cell Line Development Royalty-Free Kits To Advance Early Stage Biologic Drug Production

CARLSBAD, California and BERLIN, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (http://www.lifetech.com/) (NASDAQ: LIFE) and ProBioGen AG (http://www.probiogen.de/) today announced the availability of Gibco(R) Freedom(TM) Cell Line Development Kits (http://www.invitrogen.com/freedom.html), a new line of royalty-free products that integrate cells, reagents, culture media and protocols to bring simplicity and flexibility, eliminating up to two months in the earliest stages of new biological drug development. These kits make it easier and faster to bring new molecules to the market.

Life Technologies' new kits can reduce the time from transfection to stable cell line production, from six to four months, making unprecedented use of a single, optimized, animal-free culture medium throughout the entire development process. This eliminates the need for multiple time consuming and complicated media adaptation steps.

"Life Technologies' cell line development kits showcase our ability to integrate proprietary technologies into simple, innovative solutions that accelerate the pathway from molecule to market," said Mark Stevenson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Life Technologies. "Our royalty-free Freedom(TM) kits enable faster early stage development, and allow customers to focus on what they do best-developing new biologics to treat diseases."

The Freedom(TM) CHO-S(TM) and DG44 Kits provide biopharmaceutical drug development teams with key components for biotech and pharmaceutical companies to rapidly and systematically generate Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines to produce clinical and commercial biologic pharmaceuticals. CHO cells have been engineered to express recombinant proteins as therapeutics for a wide range of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, anemia, multiple sclerosis, cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and are a critical part of the $20 billion bioproduction market, which represents nearly 20 percent of biopharmaceutical revenue, according to a report from ScientiaAdvisors (http://www.scientiaadv.com/review_2010-06-02.php) .

Life Technologies' Freedom(TM) CHO-S(TM) Kit was developed in collaboration with ProBioGen AG (http://www.probiogen.de/). The Freedom(TM) DG44 Kit was developed by Life Technologies. Both kits include fully-documented cGMP (http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/Manufacturing/QuestionsandAnswersonCurrentGoodManufacturingPracticescGMPforDrugs/UCM071836) cell lines and animal origin-free workflows to take researchers from gene transfection to the generation of a stable clone. Commercial licensees obtain a detailed information package with the applicable cell line's lineage and testing history, to facilitate rapid IND (investigational new drug) filing with the US Food and Drug Administration prior to performing Phase I clinical trials.

About Life Technologies Bioproduction (http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/Products-and-Services/Applications/BioProduction.html?CID=fl-bioproduction)

Life Technologies is a global leader in bioprocessing products that support the production of biologics-based therapeutics and vaccines from molecule to market, with leading brands such as Gibco(R) cell culture products (http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/brands/Gibco.html) and cell therapy systems (http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/Products-and-Services/Applications/Clinical-and-Diagnostic-Applications/cell-therapy-systems-application.html); POROS(R) chromatography (http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/absite/us/en/home/applications-technologies/biotherapeutics-vaccine-production/downstream-purification.html) for process-scale bioseparations; and Applied Biosystems(R) SEQ (http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/absite/us/en/home/applications-technologies/biotherapeutics-vaccine-production/pharmaceutical-analytics.html) rapid molecular methods for contaminant detection and identification. Our customized Gibco(R) media and cell line development services have been used by leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to optimize the productivity of their production platforms. Please follow Life Technologies' Bioproduction business on Twitter at @molecule2market (http://www.twitter.com/molecule2market). For information about licensing, please contact outlicensing@lifetech.com.

About Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation (http://www.lifetech.com/) (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific and medical advancements that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance the fields of discovery and translational research, molecular medicine, stem cell-based therapies, food safety and animal health, and 21st century forensics. The company manufactures both molecular diagnostic and research use only products. Life Technologies' industry-leading brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, Gibco, Ambion, Molecular Probes and Taqman products. Life Technologies had sales of $3.6 billion in 2010, has a workforce of approximately 11,000 people, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual property estates in the life sciences industry, with approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses. For more information on how we are making a difference, please visit our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com. Follow Life Technologies on Twitter @LIFECorporation (http://twitter.com/LIFECorporation) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LifeTechnologies?ref=ts).

About ProBioGen AG

ProBioGen is a renowned Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) and Technology Provider, focusing on cell line engineering, process development (upstream- and downstream) and GMP manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. ProBioGen's royalty-free, fee-for-service- based CHO platform is based on almost 20 years of experience in mammalian cell culture. Combined with its innovative scientific excellence and strong intellectual property base, ProBioGen covers the entire drug development value chain, including regulatory support for IND-filing. All of ProBioGen's services and technologies are embedded in a total quality management system to assure compliance with international ISO and GMP standards (EMA/FDA). ProBioGen was founded in 1994 and is located in Berlin, Germany.

Life Technologies' Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements about Life Technologies' anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and Life Technologies' plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by Life Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Life Technologies undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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    Life Technologies Contact
    Tim Ingersoll
    +1-760-918-3883
    tim.ingersoll@lifetech.com

    ProBioGen Contact
    Gabriele Schneider
    +49(0)30-924006-140
    Gabriele.Schneider@probiogen.de