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June 1, 2009

BioTrove Presents Data Using Agilent’s Time-of-Flight MS System

Novel RapidFire CE Marked System Successfully Evaluated for In Vitro ADME Studies, Enhances Productivity

Woburn, MA, June 1, 2009 – BioTrove, Inc. announced it will present data this week demonstrating compatibility of its RapidFire® Mass Spectrometry (RF-MS) system with Agilent Technologies Inc.’s (NYSE:A) Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometer system for high-throughput screening of protein inhibitors and examination of drug-drug interaction assays.  Combining the two platforms, drug discovery researchers can now perform high-throughput drug-drug interaction and label-free kinase assays using whole protein substrates. These data are presented in two posters at the 57th American Society for Mass Spectrometry Conference on Mass Spectrometry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The two posters presented are:

Drug Metabolism: High Throughput
P 438: “Evaluation of Accurate Mass TOF-MS for Use in High-Throughput CYP450 Inhibition Screening” by William A. LaMarr, Ph.D.

The study shows that the RapidFire/Time-of-Flight system provides researchers accurate mass data for high-throughput analysis of CYP inhibition assays. The use of accurate mass measurements afforded by the Agilent TOF-MS has the potential to streamline the workflow in other in vitro ADME applications such as metabolic stability assays by eliminating the bottleneck of MS method development.

High-Throughput Analysis/Robotics
669: “Label Free High-Throughput Whole Protein Kinase Screening Assay” by Michelle V. Romm, Ph.D.

The study demonstrates that the RapidFire/Time-of-Flight system provides a high-throughput screening interface for the label-free detection of whole protein kinase activity at per sample throughputs under 10 seconds.  The ability to use whole protein substrates in kinase assays enables researchers to investigate challenging kinase targets, such as those that have multiple phosphorylation sites or kinases that auto-phosphorylate, that are problematic to study with optical or radiometric assay formats.

“BioTrove seeks to improve researchers’ ability to discover new drugs,” said Can “Jon” Özbal, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer, BIOCIUS. “The integration of RapidFire with Agilent’s state-of-the-art Time-of-Flight technology provides scientists a new tool to accelerate and expand on possibilities in drug discovery and disease research.”

The RapidFire/Time-of-Flight system allows for the analysis of whole proteins in their native state, rather than fragmented peptide substrates, including:
• Methylases & Demethylases
• Ubiquitinases
• Acetylases & Deacetylases
• Kinases
• Phosphatases

“Agilent and (BIOCIUS) have a collaborative history benefiting life sciences innovation and discovery,” said Ken Miller, Global Senior Marketing Manager, LC/MS, Agilent Technologies Inc. “Our combined technologies provide scientists an end-to-end solution for high-throughput drug discovery and ADME screening.”

About BIOCIUS Life Sciences
BIOCIUS Life Sciences provides researchers faster answers to their lead discovery and in vitro ADME analyses through its RapidFire instrument and contract research services. RapidFire® enables the acceleration of drug discovery and pipeline decisions.  With 13 of the top 15 largest biopharmaceutical companies based on global sales as clients, and partnerships with prestigious research and public health centers around the world, BIOCIUS’s products and services ensure that an industry committed to accuracy and speed can meet business goals.

RapidFire® Mass Spectrometry (RF-MS) feeds samples directly to the mass spectrometer at six to eight seconds per sample, eliminating the bottleneck created by traditional mass spectrometry throughput. RF-MS is routinely used in many applications including the high-throughput screening of previously intractable drug targets and ADME assays.

BIOCIUS. Faster Answers.

RapidFire® technology is described in patent numbers 6,932,939, 6,812,030 7,100,460, 7,588,725,