Issaquah, Wash., U.S.A. and Tokyo, Japan—August 27, 2001—Seki Technotron Corp. will be the exclusive distributor of Applied Precision, Inc.'s arrayWoRx^eTM Biochip Reader in Japan. This agreement extends an existing five-year partnership in which Seki Technotron sells and markets Applied Precision's DeltaVision^® Restoration Microscopy System. The two companies look forward to building on the success of this existing relationship by working together to introduce the arrayWoRx^e to users in Japan's academic and biomedical research communities.

"Seki Technotron has a well-established reputation within Japan's academic and industrial sectors," said Joe Ahladis, vice president of sales, marketing and customer service for Applied Precision. "We're excited to extend our relationship with Seki by working together to offer Japanese researchers the highly accurate imaging and analysis provided by the arrayWoRx^e," said Ahladis.

Kikuo Sakuma, department manager, test and analytical systems at Seki Technotron, expressed similar confidence in Applied Precision's local market potential. "The Japanese private and academic scientific communities welcome innovation. We are pleased to distribute another high-end technology product from Applied Precision that will improve the ease and quality of our customers' research." Seki Technotron will continue to operate as an extension of Applied Precision's sales, marketing and service teams.

The arrayWoRx^e Biochip Reader provides users superior image resolution, highly accurate and repeatable data, and more experiment flexibility than any other reader on the market. This new biochip reader provides enhanced capabilities for reading DNA, protein and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarrays. The system uses white light instead of lasers to illuminate microarrays, resulting in higher signal-to-noise ratios than those obtained with laser scanners. This instrument breaks one of the last barriers in array measurement technology: the complexity of using multiple dyes at high resolution.

Seki has been working with Applied Precision since 1996, successfully selling the DeltaVision in Japan and significantly expanding the installed base of that product. Applied Precision's DeltaVision offers temporal resolution up to five times that of other high-resolution restoration microscopes currently available, increasing scientists' capacity to study dynamic, molecular-level processes.

About Seki Technotron Corp.

Seki Technotron is a leading supplier of products to Japan's electronics industry, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment, electronic components and measurement systems, and advanced scientific instruments. In business for over 50 years, Seki not only supplies sophisticated, high technology products to its customers, but also provides comprehensive customer support, systems integration and after-sales service. Seki's business philosophy not only includes providing the best currently available products, but also stresses introducing ideas and innovations which will drive tomorrow's technologies. Seki Technotron can be reached in the United States at +1 (408) 548-9268 or in Japan at +81.3.3820.1712 and on the World Wide Web at www.sekitech.com.

About Applied Precision, Inc.

Applied Precision develops measurement, analysis and process control systems for biomedical and biotechnology imaging and analysis systems (especially live-cell microscopy, genomics and proteomics), semiconductor wafer test and precision motion control components. Applied Precision's specialized products are based on precisionware^TM, the company's unique convergence of mechanics, electronics, optics and software. Applied Precision has been enabling advancements in the world's core technologies since its inception in 1985. Applied Precision (www.appliedprecision.com) can be reached in the United States at +1 (425) 557-1000 or in the United Kingdom at +44 (0)16 7251 8350.

Contacts:

Applied Precision, Inc.
Joe Ahladis
Vice President, Sales, Marketing
And Customer Service
Tel: +1-425-557-1000
Fax: +1-425-557-1055
Email: jahladis@api.com

Seki Technotron Corp.
Kikuo Sakuma
Department Manager, Test and Analytical Systems
Tel: +81.3.3820.1712
Fax: +81.3.3820.1728
E-mail: ksakuma@stc.sekitech.co.jp

Seki Technotron, U.S. Office
Shannon Silva
Tel: +1 (408) 548-9268
Fax: +1 (408) 743-3228
E-mail: ssilva@sekitech.com