BRUKER DALTONICS AND ISIS PHARMA ENTER DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT.

(Full text of a statement. Contact details below.)

BILLERICA, Mass. and CARLSBAD, Calif., July 31

/PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ - Bruker Daltonics, a subsidiary of Bruker BioSciences (Nasdaq: BRKR), and Isis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISIS) announce today a strategic alliance for manufacturing and distribution of Isis' Ibis T5000(TM) biosensor system. The Ibis T5000, developed by Isis' Ibis Biosciences(TM) division, is a universal biosensor system that can simultaneously identify thousands of types of infectious organisms in a sample, without needing to know beforehand what might be present in the sample.

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In this strategic alliance, Bruker Daltonics will be the exclusive worldwide manufacturer of the Ibis T5000 biosensor system, which incorporates Bruker Daltonics' micrOTOF(TM) ESI-TOF mass spectrometer. Bruker Daltonics will also be responsible for order processing, system installations and service in North America, Europe and the Middle East. In Europe and the Middle East, Bruker Daltonics will have exclusive rights to sell Ibis T5000 systems and Ibis infectious organism identification kits for various government applications, and non-exclusive rights to sell to all other customers, including clinical, pharmaceutical and academic researchers for all other applications except diagnostics. Outside of Bruker Daltonics' exclusive market, Isis may sell Ibis T5000s and its infectious organism identification kits.

The Ibis T5000 utilizes the Triangulation Identification for the Genetic Evaluation of Risks (T.I.G.E.R.) methodology, which is a combination of genomics, mathematical modeling, mass spectrometry and molecular amplification, to generate a "fingerprint" of each bacterium or virus, allowing it to identify virtually any bacteria or virus present in a sample. In addition, the Ibis T5000 biosensor system can rapidly identify or classify organisms that are newly-emerging, genetically altered or unculturable. The Ibis T5000 biosensor works with many different types of infectious samples from human samples, such as throat swabs or sputum, to environmental samples, such as soil or air. The Ibis T5000 is currently designated for Research Use Only (RUO) and has not been approved for any regulated uses, including in vitro diagnostics.

"Utilizing our mass spectrometry instrumentation, the Ibis division at Isis Pharmaceuticals has pioneered a universal biosensor system that with the appropriate reagents and databases has the potential to meet unmet infectious disease identification needs both in the government and in important clinical and pharmaceutical research markets," said Frank Laukien, President of Bruker Daltonics. "The Ibis T5000 system can identify or classify and quantify a broad range of pathogens, and also can yield details on strain type and drug resistance. In the future, this additional information can potentially support rapid, informed responses, for instance, in monitoring infectious disease outbreaks or in identifying the sources of hospital-acquired infections. Our strategic alliance will allow Ibis to take advantage of our instrument manufacturing capabilities, global distribution channels and service network, while we benefit from Ibis' technology expertise and the outstanding capabilities of the Ibis T5000 biosensor system."