High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry Technology to Provide Molecular Discovery Research (MDR) at Research Triangle Park and Upper Providence with Faster, Label-Free Drug Discovery and in vitro ADME Data

Purchase Marks Third RapidFire System Supporting GSK R&D

WOBURN, Mass.–BioTrove, Inc. today announced the sale of two RapidFire® Mass Spectrometry (RF-MS) systems to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, for installation and use at their R&D and drug discovery facilities in Upper Providence, PA and Research Triangle Park, NC. The new high-throughput mass spectrometry systems are the latest additions to GSK’s RapidFire arsenal, with one system already in use at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, acquired by GSK in 2008, in Cambridge, MA.

“With a recent re-focusing of our drug discovery efforts into a set of highly specific disease areas and exciting new drug target classes, we at GSK need timely, biologically relevant data to help move our research efforts forward, faster,” said Dr. Andrew Pope, Molecular Discovery Research, GlaxoSmithKline. “We look forward to utilizing RapidFire for label-free monitoring of native-substrate modifications by drug targets. This technology gives us a way to incorporate mass spectrometry into our existing high throughput workflow.”

The two new RapidFire systems will be used by the Molecular Discovery Research organization within GSK for hit identification, compound profiling and compound mechanism of action studies to support drug discovery research efforts in a wide range of therapeutic areas including oncology, immuno-inflammation, anti-infectives, metabolic and respiratory diseases.

The high-throughput RapidFire Mass Spectrometry system can screen intractable drug targets, as well as analyze in vitro ADME and drug-drug interaction (DDI) assays. For drug discovery applications, RapidFire produces label-free, biologically relevant data so that researchers can identify potential drug leads and eliminate compromised compounds before further investigation. At six to eight seconds per sample, the RapidFire-MS system significantly decreases processing time compared to conventional MS-based technologies, helping to eliminate the workflow bottlenecks in drug discovery.

“At BioTrove, we see ourselves as the engine driving tomorrow’s pharmaceutical innovations,” said Can “Jon” Özbal, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager, BioTrove RapidFire Business Unit. “By providing an enabling technology to a global leader in research-based pharmaceuticals such as GlaxoSmithKline, we are achieving our mission of helping new medicines get to patients who need them, faster.”

BioTrove will be present at the 57th American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference on Mass Spectrometry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 31 – June 4, 2009. Representatives will be available to discuss the RapidFire technology at booth #66 and Hospitality Suite J. More information on BioTrove’s ASMS activities and presentations is available at www.BioTrove.com.

About GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.

About BioTrove, Inc.

BioTrove, Inc. offers two innovative technology platforms: OpenArray®, which advances genomic research in a wide range of life science fields, including agriculture, disease research, and public health, and RapidFire®, which enables the acceleration of drug discovery and pipeline decisions. With 11 of the top 12 largest biopharmaceutical companies based on global sales as clients, and partnerships with prestigious research and public health centers around the world, BioTrove’s products and services ensure that an industry committed to accuracy and speed can meet business goals.

The OpenArray® Platform enables genomics researchers to generate SNP and real time qPCR data in the hundreds of thousands of data points per day, significantly increasing the number of samples analyzed while significantly decreasing the time and cost required. The flexible format and nanoliter scale of the OpenArray system allows for easy adjustment of sample and assay numbers, achieving economical, high-throughput genomics. Life Technologies globally markets the OpenArray SNP genotyping platform under the TaqMan® OpenArray® SNP Genotyping brand. BioTrove is a licensee of Life Technologies global patent rights related to the real-time thermal cyclers, microfluidics and data analysis.

RapidFire® Mass Spectrometry (RF-MS) feeds samples directly to the mass spectrometer at six to eight seconds per sample, eliminating the bottleneck created by traditional mass spectrometry throughput. RF-MS is routinely used in many applications including the high-throughput screening of previously intractable drug targets, ADME assays and directed evolution studies.