MDS Sciex Introduces the CellKey™ System

2005-Sep-08

CONCORD, ON, Sep. 8, 2005 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) -- MDS Sciex, the analytical instruments division of MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), announced today that it will unveil its new CellKey™ System at the annual Society for Biomolecular Screening (SBS) Conference, September 11-15 in Geneva, Switzerland (Booth number 762).

The new MDS Sciex CellKey™ System allows for the measurement of endogenous cell surface receptor activation in live cells and generates data that enables identification of the receptor coupling mechanism of unknown receptors (for example, orphan G protein-coupled receptors, GPCR's). The CellKey™ System is based on cellular dielectric spectroscopy (CDS) technology, an approach that removes the requirement for fluorescent or radio-labeled markers from the drug discovery workflow, thereby simplifying assay development. The sensitivity of CDS' impedance-based measurement system enables the measurement of endogenous receptor targets in whole live cells and the generation of data that is more biorelevant than in other cellular screening systems.

Andy Boorn, President of MDS Sciex said, "We are very excited about the capabilities that the CellKey™ System offers our drug discovery customers, many of whom were involved in providing feedback during its development. We expect that CellKey™ System will allow our customers to simplify their assay design activities, address many of the bottlenecks currently experienced within secondary screening and lead optimization, and ultimately enable them to develop important new medicines more rapidly.

"The CellKey™ System represents a major breakthrough for receptor measurements, being the first system that can be used to accurately monitor all differently-coupled GPCR's as well as tyrosine kinase coupled receptors and nuclear receptors on a single platform and using cells that express the receptors at natural levels." said Simon Pitchford, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service.

At the SBS Conference, a CellKey™ System product tutorial will take place on Monday, September 12, 2005 at 8:00 am in Room D. Also, the System will be featured in a podium presentation on Thursday, September 15 at 11:45 am. Both of these presentations will include data collected in collaboration with leading pharmaceutical companies. In addition, six posters will be presented during the conference, four from data collected in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners.

About MDS Sciex and MDS Inc.

MDS Sciex is the analytical instrumentation and technology solutions division of MDS Inc. MDS Inc. has more than 9,000 highly skilled people in 27 countries. We provide a diverse range of superior products and services to increase our customers' speed, precision and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis processes. We are a global, values-driven life sciences company, recognized for our reliability and collaborative relationships as we help create better outcomes in the treatment of disease. Find out more at www.mdsintl.com or by calling 1-800-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day.

CellKey™ is a trademark of MDS Inc., through its MDS Sciex Division.