ACLARA and GlaxoSmithKline Evaluating eTag(TM) Technology for Patient Selection for Targeted Cancer Therapies

ACLARA and GlaxoSmithKline Evaluating eTag(TM) Technology for
Patient Selection for Targeted Cancer Therapies 


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 5  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACLARA BioSciences
(NASDAQ:ACLA) announced today that they have entered into an agreement with
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) to evaluate ACLARA's proprietary eTag(TM) technology
assays for their potential use in patient selection for certain of GSK's
targeted cancer therapies.

Under the agreement, GSK will provide ACLARA with drug-treated biological
samples and ACLARA will test the samples with its eTag assays.  ACLARA and GSK
will then correlate the parameters measured as biomarkers with response to the
drug. GSK will provide funding to ACLARA for the study.

"We are pleased that GlaxoSmithKline has decided to evaluate eTag assays for
clinical applications in cancer drug development," said Thomas Klopack,
ACLARA's chief executive officer.  "We already have a working relationship with
GSK on drug discovery applications of eTags.  Broadening the relationship to
include eTag clinical applications has the potential to provide greater value
to GSK."

ACLARA's eTag assays enable detailed analysis of protein drug targets and
signaling pathways in cancer cells, including samples that are formalin-fixed,
paraffin-embedded, the standard format in most pathology labs.  The assays can
provide information on a drug's mechanism of action, selectivity and potency in
a biological setting in pre-clinical research, and enable enrichment or
selection of clinical trial populations later in development.  In addition,
ACLARA believes these assays will ultimately be used to help physicians better
determine whether certain therapies are more appropriate for individual cancer
patients, and whether to combine therapies with different mechanisms or
properties.

About ACLARA

Founded in 1995, ACLARA is a biotechnology company working to provide
physicians and researchers products and services to make personalized medicine
a reality through its protein-based assay technology -- the eTag(TM) System.
ACLARA is dedicated to unlocking the power of pathway biology to accelerate the
development of next-generation targeted therapeutics, recognizing the most
appropriate patients for approved therapies and identifying the
highly-specific, protein-based biomarkers that will enable physicians to create
truly personalized treatment regimens for patients suffering from cancer and
other life-threatening disorders.

ACLARA is commercializing its proprietary eTag System to enhance and accelerate
drug discovery research and the preclinical and clinical development of
targeted therapeutics. ACLARA's technology may also enable the development of
highly specific, protein-based diagnostics capable of providing physicians with
a powerful tool for creating personalized treatment regimens for patients
suffering from serious and difficult-to-treat cancers.  For more information on
ACLARA please visit the Company's web site at http://www.aclara.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this news release that are not historical are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as
amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially for ACLARA from those projected. 
Those factors include risks and uncertainties relating to the performance of
our products, anticipated progress in commercialization of our eTag(TM) assay
system; the potential for use of our eTag assays in clinical development
programs; the potential for use of our eTag assays as diagnostic tests; our
ability to successfully conduct clinical studies and the results obtained from
those studies; our ability to establish reliable, high-volume operations at
commercially reasonable costs; expected reliance on a few customers for the
majority of our revenues; actual market acceptance of our products and adoption
of our technological approach and products by pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies; our estimate of the size of our markets; our estimates of the levels
of demand for our products; our ability to develop organizational capabilities
suitable for the further development and commercialization of our eTag assays;
the ultimate validity and enforceability of our patent applications and
patents; the possible infringement of the intellectual property of others;
technological approaches of ACLARA and our competitors; our pending merger with
ViroLogic, Inc., including the risk that the closing conditions or the merger
may not be satisfied and the merger may not be completed, and costs related to
the proposed merger; and other risk factors identified in our Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2004 and in the Joint Proxy/Prospectus related to our
proposed merger as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trademarks

ACLARA BioSciences is a registered trademark, and eTag and the ACLARA logo are
trademarks of ACLARA BioSciences, Inc. 

DATASOURCE: ACLARA BioSciences



CONTACT:  Alfred Merriweather, VP, Finance and CFO of ACLARA BioSciences,

Inc, [phone], or 



Web site:  http://www.aclara.com/ 

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