Proteome Sciences Licenses its Patented TMT® Technology to Thermo Fisher Scientific

9th April 2008

COBHAM, England – Proteome Sciences plc has entered into an exclusive license agreement for its TMT® isobaric tandem mass tag technology with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO). Under the terms of the license, Proteome Sciences will manufacture its patented TMT® reagents exclusively for Thermo Fisher Scientific, which will market and sell them worldwide through the Thermo Scientific Pierce product line.

Proteome Sciences expects double-digit growth in the market for isobaric tandem mass tags and will receive signature fees, contract manufacturing payments and royalties on sales with additional sales milestones from the license.

Isobaric tandem mass tags are used in scientific research, diagnostics and pharmaceutical development for biomarker discovery, validation and assay development. They also represent an important step forward in analysis of proteins by mass spectrometry.

The earliest TMT® patents extend to 2021, and the license agreement enables Thermo Fisher Scientific to provide third-party commercial licenses for use of any type of isobaric tandem mass tags. In addition, Proteome Sciences retains the use of TMT® for its own research as well as custom labeling and assay development for its customers using TMTcalibrator and TMT®Reference Materials under its ProteoSHOP® services division.

"We are delighted to have secured the global license for the TMT® reagents and the strong patent position it has covering the field of isobaric tandem mass tagging," said Ian Jardine, vice president of global research and development for Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Researchers will continue to demand new analytical tools that push the boundaries of performance for their proteomics applications, and this agreement responds to our customers’ evolving needs. We intend to have TMT® products available in the market during the second quarter of the year, fully supported by our strong sales and marketing organization."

Christopher Pearce, CEO of Proteome Sciences commented, "Thermo Fisher is the ideal partner for us for our TMT® reagents. Not only do they have outstanding marketing and sales coverage in the life-sciences reagents market through its Pierce product line, but Thermo Fisher is a global leader in the development and application of mass spectrometry. This combination provides the ability to more closely link future development of TMT® technology to customer requirements and deliver new applications in combination with next-generation mass spectrometry for fast, cost-effective workflows and solutions in biomarker discovery, validation and assay development. By relying on Thermo Fisher’s comprehensive sales channels for volume catalog products, Proteome Sciences can focus on custom labeling services and products. We see considerable demand for these services and anticipate that they will generate substantial and rapidly growing revenues using TMTcalibrator and TMT®Reference Materials available through our ProteoSHOP® services division. The agreement with Thermo Fisher provides Proteome Sciences with a strong cash flow, which transforms the prospects for our company with sustainable, rising revenue from all areas of our activities."