CELERA DIAGNOSTICS EXTENDS COLLABORATION WITH MERCK IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between the Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA) and Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI) of Applera Corporation, today announced the extension of its collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. aimed at developing new treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Under this collaboration, Celera Diagnostics and Merck will combine their research efforts in the genetics of this devastating brain disease to genetically validate and prioritize a series of genes targeted for drug development. The primary goal of the collaboration is to accelerate the discovery of new drugs to address the unmet clinical need for the treatment of Alzheimer's.

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