MDCC Molecular Devices (MM)

Molecular Devices Introduces Two Assay Kits for Early ADME Screening SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Molecular Devices Corporation (NASDAQ:MDCC) today announced the introduction of two new reagent products for ADME assay screening-Transil(R) Membrane Affinity and Transil Human Serum Albumin (HSA) Binding assay kits. The Transil assay kits provide lead optimization and high-throughput screening laboratories with fast, automatable, direct, biologically relevant solutions to increase the throughput of ADME-related compound profiling. The Transil Membrane Affinity assay provides data that correlates better to in vivo studies compared to the more conventional water/octanol partitioning assays because it uses beads which are coated with a lipid bilayer that mimic interactions between compounds and cell membranes. The results are equivalent to the liposome "gold standard" method, without the tedious preparation of liposomes. The Transil HSA Binding assay kit makes routine, high-throughput HSA binding characterization easy because it contains beads which have been coated with human serum albumin and pre-dispensed into a microplate format. The pre-dispensed format increases throughput via parallel sample preparation and assay reading on Molecular Devices' SpectraMax(R) microplate readers. With the Transil assays, there is virtually no methods development required, as each kit contains data analysis routines for processing high- throughput screening of drug candidates for early ADME characterization. Furthermore, the assays share nearly identical sample workup steps, so steps developed for one assay are immediately applicable to the other. Commenting on the launch, Christopher Silva, Director of Marketing for Life Sciences Products at Molecular Devices stated, "The Transil assay kits enable screening of compound libraries for membrane affinity and HSA binding for early ADME properties which are not possible with current low-throughput methods. These new assays require only one sample concentration, which simplifies automation. Additionally, turnkey data analysis offers researchers compound data within hours of synthesis or secondary screening. Because we have integrated these assays with our SpectraMax(R) microplate reader line, we have provided a more complete solution to our customers." The kits are available in two formats for 96- or 384-well microplates. The "high precision" version is ideal for profiling compounds at the lead optimization stage of drug discovery; the "high throughput" version allows characterization of compound libraries. Molecular Devices Corporation is a leading supplier of high-performance bioanalytical measurement systems that accelerate and improve drug discovery and other life sciences research. The Company's systems and consumables enable pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to leverage advances in genomics, proteomics and parallel chemistry to facilitate the high-throughput and cost-effective identification and evaluation of drug candidates. The Company's solutions are based on its advanced core technologies that integrate its expertise in engineering, molecular and cell biology and chemistry. Molecular Devices enables its customers to improve research productivity and effectiveness, which ultimately accelerates the complex process of discovering and developing new drugs. This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including statements related to the prospects for or potential customer use of the Transil Membrane Affinity and Transil Human Serum Albumin (HSA) Binding assay kits. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of Molecular Devices Corporation to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to the development of new products and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004. Molecular Devices Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Molecular Devices Corporation CONTACT: Tim Harkness of Molecular Devices Corporation, +1-408-747-3533 Web site: http://www.moleculardevices.com/

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