PE BIOSYSTEMS SERVES AFFYMETRIX IN PATENT LAW SUIT

FOSTER CITY, CA, October 16, 2000—PE Biosystems (NYSE: PEB), a PE Corporation business now conducting business under the Applied Biosystems name, announced today that it has served Affymetrix with the complaint for patent infringement that Applied Biosystems had originally filed with the U.S. District Court in Delaware on July 5, 2000. The Applied Biosystems complaint asserts that Affymetrix is infringing several patents related to certain fundamental methods and related technology for making oligonucleotides.

"The company makes an effort to grant licenses that foster the adoption of technology while preserving the value of intellectual property to the shareholders," said Joseph H. Smith, Vice President of Intellectual Property at Applied Biosystems. "The company seeks fair value for its licenses and considers reasonable alternatives in accommodating parties seeking to use its technology. In the present case, we attempted to provide Affymetrix with the rights required, but concluded that they did not reciprocate our efforts toward a reasonable resolution. While litigation is not our preferred way of resolving matters such as this, we are confident that our action against Affymetrix will ultimately be successful."

The suit relates to U.S. Patents No. 4,458,066; 4,500,707; 5,132,418; 5,153,319; and 4,973,679, to which Applied Biosystems has certain exclusive rights. The patented technology originated from pioneering research at the University of Colorado and has been widely adopted in the field of nucleic acid synthesis. In its suit, Applied Biosystems seeks judicial relief for Affymetrix's unauthorized use of the technology.

"Affymetrix has stated that it has a meritorious defense because it purchases its reagents from licensed vendors," said Mr. Smith. "However, the purchase of phosphoramidite compounds from licensed vendors does not by itself convey to purchasers full rights under the patents in suit, such as the right to synthesize oligonucleotides by automated processes."

PE Corporation comprises two operating groups. The PE Biosystems Group, now conducting business under the Applied Biosystems name, develops and markets instrument-based systems, reagents, software and contract services to the life science industry and research community. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA and reported sales of $1.4 billion during fiscal 2000. The Celera Genomics Group (NYSE: CRA), headquartered in Rockville, Md., intends to become the definitive source of and related medical information. Information about the Company, including reports and other information filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available on the worldwide web at www.pecorporation.com or by phoning 800.762.6923.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "estimated," and "potential," among others. These forward-looking statements are based on PE Corporation's current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, PE Corporation notes that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance, development, and results of PE Biosystems businesses include but are not limited to (1) rapidly changing technology and dependence on new products; (2) sales dependent on customers' capital spending policies and government-sponsored research; (3) claims for patent infringement; (4) significant overseas operations; (5) future growth strategy; (6) earthquakes; and (7) other factors that might be described from time to time in PE Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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