PerkinElmer Unveils Columbus Data Management System for High Content Screening

New high-volume storage solution for images positioned to become a
standard in the industry, featuring high scalability, interoperability
and accessibility
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.--(Business Wire)--
PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences, a global leader in life
science research, drug discovery and cellular science, today unveiled
the Columbus(TM) high content screening (HCS) data management system,
a platform for archiving, managing, retrieving and protecting images
and analyzed results, at the SBS Symposium on Cell-based Assays.

High content screening is a vital tool for biological research in
many areas, especially for drug discovery and development. The
technique does, however, produce very large volumes of image data and
associated numerical results, which can be difficult to manage
successfully.

The Columbus software is a flexible, convenient solution for
high-volume image storage and management. Designed as a partner
product for the Opera(TM), PerkinElmer's premier confocal microplate
imaging reader, the system has the added benefit of full compatibility
with a wide range of image file formats. The Columbus software can be
easily used to archive and manage images from confocal and standard
research microscopes, and act as a convenient central repository for
all image data.

The Columbus data management platform utilizes an open protocol,
run on the OMERO server developed by the Open Microscopy Environment
(OME), a multi-site collaborative effort among academic laboratories
and a number of commercial entities that produces open tools to
support data management for biological light microscopy. By using an
open protocol, the Columbus software is interoperable with a wide
variety of instruments and software, with support being added for more
products on a frequent basis.

"Columbus is ideally placed to become an industry standard for
image data management," said Richard M. Eglen, Ph.D., president,
Bio-discovery, PerkinElmer. "The system was created to overcome the
specific, common problems faced by researchers in accessing and
managing high volumes of image data critical to their workflows.
Designed for maximum interoperability across a wide variety of
formats, as well as open interfacing with a large number of tools and
applications, Columbus is a highly scalable solution that can serve an
individual laboratory to an entire research-driven enterprise."

The Columbus data management software is available in two
versions; Columbus Gallery, which provides a comprehensive data
archive, management and visualization solution, and Columbus
Conductor, that includes all the functionality of Columbus Gallery,
plus the ability to analyze or re-analyze HCS data from the Opera
imaging reader or other image data using Acapella(TM) image analysis
software. The Acapella software runs on the server computer, for
greater processing power and multi-threading technology to run batch
processes and obtain quicker results.

PerkinElmer's Bio-discovery business unit is part of the
PerkinElmer Life & Analytical Sciences division and provides the most
comprehensive offering of enabling technologies and services including
biochemistry, detection systems, cell imaging, and liquid handling to
accelerate life sciences research, from drug discovery to academic
research.

PerkinElmer, Inc. is a global technology leader driving growth and
innovation in Health Sciences and Photonics markets to improve the
quality of life. The Company reported revenues of $1.8 billion in
2007, has approximately 9,100 employees serving customers in more than
150 countries, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Additional
information is available through www.perkinelmer.com or
1-877-PKI-NYSE.

PerkinElmer, Inc.
Mario Fante, 781-663-5602
mario.fante@perkinelmer.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008