Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. said it has formed its planned alliancewith The Perkin-Elmer Corp. following the completionWednesday of Roche's acquisition of Cetus Corp.'s polymerasechain reaction technology for $300 million.

Perkin-Elmer of Norwalk, Conn., has acquired full rights to thePCR-related instruments systems business previously sharedwith Cetus through the former Perkin-Elmer Cetus Instruments(PECI) joint venture.

Perkin-Elmer's acquisition of the PECI rights and its alliancewith Roche were spelled out in the July merger agreementbetween Cetus and Chiron Corp., which is to be completedtoday.

Roche of Nutley, N.J., has formed Roche Molecular Systems Inc.,a new operating unit within the Roche Diagnostics Group for allPCR-related activities. Roche Molecular will be headquarteredin Branchburg, N.J.

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