In Sequence Magazine Interviews Covaris President About Benefits of ABI Partnership

WOBURN, MA—November 27, 2007—Today the editors of In Sequence, the Inside Read on Genome Sequencing, published an article based on an interview with Jim Laugharn, President and CEO of Covaris, Incorporated. The article focused on the potential of the recent supply and distribution agreement signed between Applied Biosystems and Covaris. A key part of the agreement is that Applied Biosystems will sell and support Covaris™ S2 sample preparation instrument system for use with Applied Biosystems’ recently launched next-generation genetic analysis platform, the SOLiD™ System.

The full text of the In Sequence article follows below.

ABI Tested Covaris DNA Shearing Instrument for 9 Months Prior to Deal
ABI tested and evaluated Covaris’ S2 sample prep system for about nine month prior to deciding to sell the instrument along with its SOLiD sequencer, according to an ABI spokesperson (see In Sequence 11/13/2007).

“It was determined that the [Covaris’] Adaptive Focused Acoustic technology would bring speed and efficiency to biological and chemical sample preparation that would help SOLiD System customers take advantage of emerging applications for next-gen sequencing and help ensure they receive quality data,” the spokesperson told In Sequence by e-mail.

Scientists at Agencourt Personal Genomics used Covaris’ instrument even prior to APG’s acquisition by ABI, Covaris president and CEO Jim Laugharn told In Sequence by e-mail.

The list price of the Covaris S2 instrument, which is included in ABI’s $600,000 SOLiD system, is $40,000.

Customers of other sequencing platforms can also buy an instrument directly from Covaris and use it for DNA shearing purposes, according to Laugharn.

The Covaris S2 instrument shears genomic DNA into short fragments with uniform and consistent size fractions, with a target range between 100 and 200 base pairs for SOLiD fragment libraries.

The instrument can also be used for lysing cells and tissues, and to micronize particulates and solvate molecules for chemical samples, such as nanoparticles, according to Laugharn.

Like sonicators, the Covaris technology uses acoustic energy, but it precisely controls and efficiently delivers mechanical energy in a non-contact, isothermal, and rapid manner, he said. The technology is a combination of diagnostic imaging ultrasound signal processing and high intensity, therapeutic ultrasound technologies.

http://www.in-sequence.com/issues/1_45/short_reads/143610-1.html

About Covaris, Inc.
Covaris, Inc. is a rapidly growing life science instrument company. Its proprietary instrument platform, based on patented Adaptive Focused Acoustic (AFA) technology brings unsurpassed speed and efficiency to biological and chemical sample preparation. The AFA process, based on shock wave physics, delivers controlled, precise, and accurate energy to biological and chemical samples. The process is non-contact, isothermal, and rapid. Leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide are using Covaris instruments for RNA extraction, Compound Dissolution, Drug Metabolism tissue extraction, and much more. Information about Covaris is available at https://www.covaris.com.

Contact:
Covaris, Inc.
Jim Laugharn, President & CEO
14 Gill Street, Unit H
Woburn, Massachusetts
USA 01801-1721
Tel: +1 781-932-3959
Fax: +1 781-932-8705
e-mail: [email protected]
web: www.covaris.com