CARLSBAD, Calif.–Invitrogen Corporation (NASDAQ:IVGN – News), a provider of essential life science technologies for research, production and diagnostics, announced today the launch of its Dynabeads® MAX Legionella, which enables a unique process for targeting and concentrating legionella from environmental water samples. The Dynabeads® MAX Legionella provides a rapid and highly reliable sample preparation process, improving the method used, and result achieved, for the detection and quantification of legionella.

Several strains of the legionella bacteria, most notably Legionella pneumophila, can cause sickness and death in humans. An estimated 8,000 to 18,000 people are diagnosed with legionellosis in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Common sources of the bacteria include public water disseminators such as cooling towers, domestic hot-water systems and fountains, and similar natural sources like freshwater ponds and creeks. In order to prevent outbreaks of the disease, many public institutions such as hospitals perform regular surveillance for the organism.

Typical procedures for legionella surveillance involve complicated filtration and subsequent culture steps. The filters collect large quantities of other organisms that grow in culture along with legionella, requiring subsequent re-culturing of suspected legionella bacteria. In addition, many of the contaminating organisms can inhibit the growth of the legionella bacteria and produce false negatives. The Dynabeads® MAX Legionella uses magnetic Dynabeads® with antibodies that attach to legionella and selectively isolate and concentrate the bacterium from the sample, eliminating contaminating microorganisms.

“By quickly and reliably isolating only the legionella organism, Dynabeads MAX Legionella streamlines the procedures for legionella surveillance and has the potential to change the market,” said Jim Janicki, Vice President of Invitrogen’s Applied Markets. “Invitrogen’s technologies are quickly becoming indispensable for many applications that are essential to preserving public health.”

In addition to the legionella test kit, Invitrogen offers similar Dynabead®-based systems – better known as immunomagnetic separation (IMS) – to isolate pathogenic organisms such as E. coli O157:H7, salmonella, listeria, cryptosporidium and giardia from complex samples. The company’s technologies are used all over the world, including at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, (click here for press release), to ensure the safety of food and drinking water.

For more about Invitrogen’s Dynabeads® MAX Legionella kit, visit http://www.invitrogen.com/microbiology, or contact by email at [email protected].

About Invitrogen

Invitrogen Corporation (NASDAQ:IVGN – News) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen’s own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, stem cells, cell therapy and cell biology — placing Invitrogen’s products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company employs approximately 4,700 scientists and other professionals and had revenues of approximately $1.3 billion in 2007. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release are considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and it is Invitrogen’s intent that such statements be protected by the safe harbor created thereby. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to 1). Dynabeads® MAX Legionella streamlines the procedures for legionella surveillance and has the potential to change the market Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to; a) Dynabeads® MAX Legionella may or may not provide rapid and highly reliable sample preparation process, improve the method used, and result achieved; b) Invitrogen’s technologies may or may not become indispensable for many applications that are essential to preserving public health; and the risks that the market will not accept the companies’ products and services, or that the companies will be unsuccessful in their efforts to develop new products and services, as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Invitrogen’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.