By Karen Pihl-Carey

PE Biosystems Group formed a proteomics research center that it hopes will bring proteomics ¿ the study of the array of proteins produced by a genome ¿ to the same level of attention genomics has received.

The Proteomics Research Center will be located at PE Biosystems¿ PerSeptive Biosystems division in Framingham, Mass.

¿This is the natural extension¿ to the genomics field, said Joe Malandrakis, vice president of parent company PE Corp. and general manager of PerSeptive. ¿We feel we can have the same impact in the field of proteomics with the effort and commitment that PE Corp. is putting into this research.¿

Steve Martin will head the new center as its director.

¿I think the key thing to recognize is that although the genomic information is critical foundation information for life sciences and individualized medicine, it¿s really coupling that information with the protein information that [is necessary] because there¿s not a one-to-one correlation,¿ Martin told BioWorld Today.

Proteomics is part of PE Corp.¿s vision to understand the logic of biology. At the center, the company will combine efforts from its two divisions, PE Biosystems and Celera Genomics Group, to create protein information so the science ¿achieves the same worldwide scale as genomics,¿ PE Corp.¿s chairman, president and CEO Tony White said in a statement.

¿One of the things you have to realize about proteomics,¿ Martin said, ¿is that it is a very fragmented field in that unlike genomics there are multiple technologies that need to be applied to characterize the genome. This research center allows horizontal integration of key technology platforms.¿

Celera, of Rockville, Md., recently raised $855 million in a public offering to focus on functional genomics, proteomics and personalized medicine. The company originally sought only about $300 million. (See BioWorld Today, March 2, 2000, p. 1; and Feb. 2, 2000, p. 1.)

PE Corp. and PE Biosystems are based in Foster City, Calif.

The mission of the new center is to define novel tools for proteomics and to focus on the advancement of the science in order to develop systems for research, drug discovery and development, and health care.

¿The proteomics center is clearly part of our strategy within PE Corp. to add focus and support and mass, if you will,¿ said Malandrakis.

While incorporating PerSeptive Biosystems¿ mass spectrometry and related technologies with the technology and expertise of PE Biosystems¿ other divisions, the company will seek partnerships with companies that have complementary technology and biological skills.

In addition to forming the new center, PE Biosystems also entered into two collaborations, one each with the University of Geneva in Switzerland and the University of Washington in Seattle. The collaborations were formed before the creation of the new center. With the University of Geneva, PE Biosystems will work to develop a new generation of integrated proteomics systems. With the University of Washington, the company will develop new chemistries and technology for proteomics applications. The company will obtain exclusive rights to commercialize the proprietary isotope coded affinity tags (ICAT) technology developed at the university for the relative quantification of proteins in complex mixtures. ICAT is expected to allow scientists to investigate the change in protein expression profiles by using mass spectrometry.

¿There are other potential collaborations under discussion with other parties as well for proteomics research,¿ Malandrakis said. ¿This is two of several that will be forming in the near-term.¿

Martin said the center likely will work with satellite centers around the world. ¿Proteomics is a global initiative,¿ he said. ¿It¿s very important to be connected to all the main research geographies worldwide.¿

In January, PE Biosystems acquired Madison, Wis.-based Third Wave Technologies Inc. in an all-stock transaction worth about $330 million. The acquisition gave PE Biosystems Third Wave¿s DNA analysis method called Invader to speed the discovery and understanding of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 25, 2000, p. 1.)

Celera will be an early customer for the Invader technology, enabling it to move from simply generating the SNPs to identifying their utility.

In other PE Biosystems news, the company entered into an agreement with Phase-1 Molecular Toxicology Inc., of Santa Fe, N.M., to develop high-throughput gene expression assays for preclinical drug candidate toxicity evaluations. The companies will share responsibility for the development and validation of about 50 gene expression assays.