Pacific Biosciences Announces Launch of Certified Service Provider Program for Single Molecule, Real-Time Sequencing; Adds New Informatics Partners

MENLO PARK, Calif., March 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., (Nasdaq:PACB) provider of the PacBio^® RS II Sequencing System, today announced that the company has launched a Certified Service Provider (CSP) program and added new informatics partners to meet the increasing demand for Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT^®) Sequencing and data analysis worldwide.

The PacBio CSP program is a global network of validated service organizations utilizing PacBio’s sequencing technology. PacBio CSPs undergo a standardized certification procedure in order to ensure they are capable of delivering the highest-quality data to their clients.

The first service providers to be certified are:

• DNA Link, Inc., based in Korea

• GATC Biotech AG, based in Germany

• McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre

• Takara Bio Inc., based in Japan

• Washington State University, Molecular Biology and Genomics Core

• Arizona Genomics Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson

“We have seen great demand for SMRT Sequencing in Korea and abroad, and are now running more SMRT Cells than flow cells or chips from any other sequencing platform,” said Gun-Eui Lee, Chief Technology Officer of DNA Link. “Once customers experience the benefits of PacBio long reads, they especially prefer this technology for de novo sequencing.”

To support increased demand for analysis and interpretation of SMRT Sequencing data, Pacific Biosciences has added three new informatics partners:

• DNAnexus, Inc., facilitates cloud-based genome informatics and data management, with optimization for de novo assembly of large genomes with SMRT Sequencing data

• Biosoft Integrators, Inc., delivers High Performance Computational solutions with pre-installed SMRT Analysis software to give PacBio users a seamless experience on a local compute environment

• Computomics provides PacBio users with extensive expertise in de novo assembly, the Iso-Seq™ method, and gene annotation for plant genomics projects

“Pacific Biosciences has been a pioneer and leader in long-read sequencing technology and applications,” said Richard Daly, CEO of DNAnexus. “DNAnexus is proud to be a part of PacBio’s partner program for bioinformatics and data management. We look forward to the partnership with PacBio to help medical institutions and researchers realize the true power of long-read sequencing and reference-quality, whole-genome assembly for discovering breakthrough treatments for disease.”

Kevin Corcoran, Senior Vice President of Market Development for Pacific Biosciences commented: “We are delighted to see this momentum in the life science community around applying the unique benefits of SMRT Sequencing, and are excited to partner with leading service providers and informatics partners to better support customers worldwide. PacBio CSP certification provides a competitive advantage to service providers and helps ensure that their customers will receive the highest-quality genetic analysis services using PacBio technology.”

Sequencing service providers interested in learning more about the CSP program can visit: www.pacb.com/SMRTproviders.

Third-party vendors interested in learning more about PacBio’s Partner program can visit:

https://www.pacb.com/community/partner_program/current_partners/.

About Pacific Biosciences

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (Nasdaq:PACB) offers the PacBio^® RS II Sequencing System to help scientists resolve genetically complex problems. Based on its novel Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT^®) technology, the company’s products enable: de novo genome assembly to finish genomes in order to more fully identify, annotate and decipher genomic structures; full-length transcript analysis to improve annotations in reference genomes, characterize alternatively spliced isoforms in important gene families, and find novel genes; targeted sequencing to more comprehensively characterize genetic variations; and DNA base modification identification to help characterize epigenetic regulation and DNA damage. Our technology provides the industry’s highest consensus accuracy over the longest read lengths
in combination with the ability to detect real-time kinetic information. The PacBio RS II System, including consumables and software provides a simple, fast, end-to-end workflow for SMRT Sequencing. More information is available at www.pacb.com.

Forward Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are forward-looking statements, including, among other things, statements relating to future uses and performance of the Company’s products and other future events. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond the Company’s control and could materially affect actual results. Factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q, and include those listed under the caption “Risk Factors.” The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: For Pacific Biosciences:



         Media:

         Nicole Litchfield

         415.793.6468

         nicole@bioscribe.com



         Investors:

         Trevin Rard

         650.521.8450

         ir@pacificbiosciences.com

Source: Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc.

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