NORWALK, Conn.--Perkin-Elmer's third-quarter results announcement last month pointed to positive developments at its Celera Genomics group. By the end of April, Celera had 300 employees and laboratories and related facilities were almost fully built. The company's staff has begun sequencing the Drosophila melanogaster genome and the unit is cooperating with Compaq Computer to build one of the world's largest supercomputing centers. Amgen, Pharmacia & Upjohn, and Novartis Pharma have all signed five-year subscription agreements to Celera databases.
Perkin-Elmer has received shareholder approval to reorganize its corporate structure and will change its name to PE Corporation. The revamp will also result in the creation of separate securities for its PE Biosystems group and Celera.
During the quarter ended March 31, PE Biosystems entered into a lease agreement with Celera for ABI Prism 3700 DNA Analyzers. Revenues from sales of those instruments to Celera were $5.2 million for the quarter.