Australia's HealthLinx Collaborates with Bruker Daltonics on Mass Spectrometry-Based Disease-Specific IVD Assays

PHILADELPHIA & MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2005--

ClinProt(TM) Selected for Cancer Biomarker Discovery, ID and Validation

“The first IVD product to be developed under the collaboration will be an ovarian cancer test that will utilize four biomarkers found in the serum of women with ovarian cancer, building on HealthLinx' extensive experience and core competencies in ovarian cancer biomarker panel research.”

At the Biomarker World Conference 2005 in Philadelphia, HealthLinx Pty. Limited, based in Melbourne, Australia, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Bruker Daltonics Inc., one of the world's leading mass spectrometry companies for IVD research systems. The collaboration focuses on technology transfer and cooperation between the two firms to develop disease-specific assays for use in in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) research and clinical trials using Bruker Daltonics' ClinProt(TM) platform technology for clinical proteomics.

The collaboration involves the on-going discovery of new biomarkers for predictive diagnostic applications using Bruker Daltonics' autoflex(TM) MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer in combination with proprietary ClinProt magnetic bead sample preparation, and ClinProTools(TM) software for advanced visualization and bioinformatics. HealthLinx will apply this technology platform to develop and commercialize biomarker applications in women's health for both research and clinical diagnostics. It is envisaged that, following validation, Australian government Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) registration of the ClinProt platform as a diagnostic pathology device will be sought. TGA registration has effect in both Australia and New Zealand, and is valuable in Singapore and Europe.

Associate Professor Greg Rice of the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne, and Chief Scientific Officer of HealthLinx, stated: "The first IVD product to be developed under the collaboration will be an ovarian cancer test that will utilize four biomarkers found in the serum of women with ovarian cancer, building on HealthLinx' extensive experience and core competencies in ovarian cancer biomarker panel research."

HealthLinx's Chief Executive Officer, Nick Gatsios, added: "At the same time, HealthLinx has contracted Walter Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne to develop proprietary monoclonal antibodies, which are currently being cloned and purified, specific to its biomarkers. These will be used to build the next generation product, for application on the Bruker Daltonics platform. FDA registration will be sought through industry partnerships for use as a pathology diagnostic."

Bruker Daltonics Vice President, Mr. Clive Seymour, stated: "We expect this agreement to be a valuable step forward in assisting the early diagnosis of different types of cancer, and in other oncological research, both in Australia and globally. Our ClinProt system substantially increases the ability of cancer and other clinical researchers to discover, identify and validate new mass spectrometry-based multi-marker panels with potentially higher disease specificity. Our ClinProt solution offers clinicians and cancer researchers a coherent, simple to use, routine workflow, delivering excellent data quality and confidence in data interpretation."

Bruker Daltonics' ClinProt representatives will be available at the Biomarker World Congress 2005 at booth no. 106, from May 23rd through May 25th.

ABOUT HEALTHLINX

HealthLinx is an IP management house that focuses on in-licensing biomarkers that present application within the predictive diagnostic market space. The first product that is being developed by HealthLinx is a mid to late stage ovarian cancer diagnostic that is serum-based using conventional ELISA pathology instrumentation for analysis. The product is at the build stage where multi ELISA test kits are being completed using generic reagents for the purpose of identification.

ABOUT BRUKER BIOSCIENCES (NASDAQ: BRKR)

Bruker BioSciences Corporation, headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, is the publicly traded parent company of Bruker AXS Inc. and Bruker Daltonics Inc. Bruker AXS is a leading developer and provider of life science and advanced materials research tools based on X-ray technology. Bruker Daltonics is a leading developer and provider of innovative life science tools based on mass spectrometry. For more information, please visit www.bruker-biosciences.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT OF BRUKER BIOSCIENCES

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's reorganization strategies, integration risks, failure of conditions, technological approaches, product development, market acceptance, cost and pricing of the Company's products, changes in governmental regulations, capital spending and government funding policies, FDA and other regulatory approvals to the extent applicable, competition, the intellectual property of others, patent protection and litigation. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, our most recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.