CARLSBAD, Calif. — Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE) today announced that the company has signed an agreement with Quidel Corporation to distribute and commercialize molecular diagnostic assays for the European market. The deal represents Life’s continued growth into the diagnostics space.

“About ten percent of Life Technologies’ current revenues derive from molecular diagnostics,” said Kim Caple, head of molecular diagnostics at Life Technologies, “and we expect that percentage to grow significantly in the next several years as we expand our presence in the diagnostics arena.”

The agreement calls for Life Technologies to sell Quidel’s current and future assays in Europe, where Life has a broad established distribution network. Beginning in October, Life Technologies will distribute the Quidel® Molecular Influenza A+B Real-Time RT-PCR Assay and hMPV (human metapneumovirus) kits to European markets.

The kits offer both performance benefits and workflow benefits over currently available tests. The influenza kit was shown to be more sensitive and specific than the comparator assay in a trial with more than 600 samples. The workflow has been improved by allowing for refrigerated storage rather than freezer storage, one-step reagent setup, and fast qPCR cycling resulting in answers 75 minutes after sample preparation.

Both kits are for use with Life’s 7500 family PCR Instruments, which are installed in hundreds of clinical diagnostic labs across Europe. The Quidel® Molecular Influenza A+B Real-Time RT-PCR Assay and hMPV kit are CE-marked. Later in 2011, Life Technologies and Quidel expect to launch additional infectious disease kits to the European market.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

About Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific and medical advancements that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance the fields of discovery and translational research, molecular medicine, stem cell-based therapies, food safety and animal health, and 21st century forensics. The company manufactures both molecular diagnostic and research use only products. Life Technologies’ industry-leading brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, Gibco, Ambion, Molecular Probes and Taqman products. Life Technologies had sales of $3.6 billion in 2010, has a workforce of approximately 11,000 people, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual property estates in the life sciences industry, with approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses.