SAN DIEGO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gen-Probe Incorporated (Nasdaq: GPRO - News), an established leader in molecular diagnostics based on its patented nucleic acid testing ("NAT") technology, today begins regular-way trading on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol "GPRO" following the Company's spin-off from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The spin-off was finalized on September 15, 2002 with the distribution by Chugai of approximately 23.8 million shares of Gen-Probe common stock to Chugai shareholders. Each registered holder of Chugai common stock on the July 31, 2002 record date received 0.086 of one share of Gen-Probe common stock for each share of Chugai common stock held on the record date in the September 15 spin-off.

Gen-Probe develops, manufactures and markets rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid probe-based products used for the clinical diagnosis of human diseases and for screening donated human blood. Founded in 1983, Gen-Probe pioneered the scientific and commercial development of nucleic acid testing for routine clinical diagnosis. NAT enables detection of microorganisms that are difficult or time-consuming to detect with traditional laboratory methods. To date, Gen-Probe has received clearances or approvals from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more than 40 products that detect a wide variety of infectious microorganisms, including the first FDA-approved amplified NAT assay for tuberculosis and the first and only FDA-approved blood screening assay, approved by the FDA in February 2002. This blood screening assay, which is manufactured by Gen-Probe and marketed by Chiron Corporation as the Procleix(TM) System, is currently utilized to screen over 70% of the United States donated blood supply for HIV-1 and HCV.

"This is an exciting time for Gen-Probe. We are well positioned as an independent public company both financially and in our research efforts and expect to garner significant growth in the near-term by introducing additional tests for bloodscreening and introducing assays for detecting and quantitating viruses in the diagnostics business," said Henry L. Nordhoff, president and chief executive officer of Gen-Probe. "We will continue to leverage our core expertise in molecular diagnostics and capitalize on opportunities to expand our Company and generate additional value for our stockholders."

Any statements in this press release about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," and "would." For example, statements concerning financial condition, possible or assumed future results of operations, growth opportunities, industry ranking, plans and objectives of management, markets for our common stock and future management and organizational structure are all forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Some of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: (i) the possibility that the market for the sale of our new products, such as our APTIMA Combo 2 assay, may not develop as expected, (ii) the enhancement of existing products and the development of new products may not proceed as planned, (iii) we may not be able to attract and retain key employees, (iv) we may not be able to compete effectively, (v) we may not be able to maintain our current corporate collaborations and enter into new corporate collaborations, (vi) we may not be able to complete development of our TIGRIS instrument, (vii) we are dependent on Chiron Corporation and other third parties for the distribution of some of our products, (viii) we are dependent on a small number of customers, contract manufacturers and single source suppliers of raw materials, (ix) changes in third-party reimbursement policies regarding our products could adversely affect sales of our products, (x) changes in government regulation affecting our diagnostic products could harm our sales and increase our development costs, and (xi) our involvement in patent and other intellectual property litigation could be expensive and could divert management's attention.

The foregoing list sets forth some, but not all, of the factors that could affect our ability to achieve results described in any forward-looking statements. For information about risks and uncertainties we face, a discussion of our financial statements and footnotes, see documents the company has filed with the SEC, including the Form 10 filed September 5, 2002, and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002 and all subsequent periodic fillings made with the SEC. We assume no obligation and expressly disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

EDITOR'S NOTE - Additional information on Gen-Probe Incorporated is available on its Web site located at www.gen-probe.com. Company news releases are also available through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call Web site.

For further information please contact Lora Pike, Director, Investor Relations, of Gen-Probe Incorporated, 858-410-8673, lorap@gen-probe.com; or Amy Sullivan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, of Noonan Russo Presence Euro RSCG, 415-677-4455, ext. 219, a.sullivan@nrp-euro.com, for Gen-Probe Incorporated.

Source: Gen-Probe Incorporated