PE Biosystems Files Patent Suit Against Amersham Pharmacia Biotech

FOSTER CITY, CA � May 31, 2000 � PE Biosystems Group (NYSE: PEB), a PE Corporation business, announced today it has filed suit in the Northern District of California against Amersham Pharmacia Biotech for infringing a patent related to a class of fluorescent dye compounds developed by PE Biosystems and used in automated DNA sequencing processes.

PE Biosystems believes Amersham Pharmacia Biotech's DYEnamic ET Terminator Kits incorporate technologies covered by US Patent No. 5,945,526 held by PE Biosystems.

"The significance of the technology covered by the patent has been clearly demonstrated by the success of PEB's BigDye™ DNA sequencing chemistries, which have become the 'gold standard' in the field of automated DNA sequencing," said Michael W. Hunkapiller, Ph.D., president of PE Biosystems and senior vice president of PE Corporation.

The dyes covered by US Patent No. 5,945,526 provide brighter signal, cleaner data, longer reads, and higher sensitivity than competing products. These dyes help researchers to understand and apply the logic of biology. They have application in such fields as large-scale genome projects, human identification, microbial identification, molecular diagnostics, agriculture, and pharmaceutical development.

"PE Biosystems has invested significant resources and many years of research into the development and commercialization of an increasingly wide range of applications which improve the efficiency of genetic research," Dr. Hunkapiller said. "This action is necessary to protect this investment and ensure the best products are broadly available to our customers."

PE Corporation comprises two operating groups. The PE Biosystems Group (NYSE: PEB), with sales of $1.2 billion during fiscal 1999, develops and markets instrument-based systems, reagents, software and contract services to the life science industry and research community. PE Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and comprises four divisions: Applied Biosystems, PE Informatics, PerSeptive Biosystems, and Tropix. The Celera Genomics Group (NYSE: CRA), headquartered in Rockville, MD., intends to become the definitive source of genomic 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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