2nd Mar 2006 07:00
Tepnel Life Sciences PLC02 March 2006 Tepnel Life Sciences plc ('Tepnel' or 'the Company') Tepnel completes acquisition of GenXTrakTM DNA extraction business from Whatman plc Manchester, UK, 2 March 2006 - The Board of Tepnel Life Sciences PLC (AIM: TED)announced today the completed acquisition of the GenXTrak DNA extractionbusiness from UK-based Whatman plc (LSE:WHM.L) for an undisclosed sum. TheCambridge-based GenXTrakTM business will now operate within Tepnel's servicedivision, offering rapid and reliable extraction, purification, quantificationand normalisation of clinical DNA samples. The acquisition expands Tepnel'saccess to the pharmacogenomics testing market and positions the Company as oneof Europe's largest providers of DNA extraction services. Commenting on the acquisition, Ben Matzilevich CEO, said: "The acquisition ofGenXTrak fits neatly into Tepnel's Research Products & Services divisioncreating additional capacity for our existing nucleic acid purificationbusiness. This business will provide access to European based customers andexpand our menu of capabilities allowing us to handle a variety of sample types.An important component of Tepnel's strategic plan is to provide expandedcapabilities in both genetic and protein analysis. In order to compete in thesemarkets Tepnel must be able to provide low cost, high throughput services whilemeeting pharmaceutical standards. We plan to automate the Whatman facility toimprove our competitive position. Once implemented in Cambridge we plan toexpand these capabilities into our Edinburgh, Scotland and Stamford, USAfacilities." Enquiries: For Further Information: Tepnel Life Sciences plcBen Matzilevich, CEO0161 946 2200 Seymour PierceMark Percy, Corporate Finance0207 107 8000 De Facto CommunicationsRichard Anderson020 7861 3838 Notes to Editors About Tepnel Life Sciences plc Tepnel is a UK-based international life sciences company focused on moleculardiagnostics and research products and services including DNA purification kitsand reagents, scientific services for nucleic acid purification, drug analysis,genotyping and genetically modified foods. Tepnel was founded in 1992 to exploitDNA technology generated at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Scienceand Technology) and is quoted on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange(AIM: TED). More information on Tepnel can be found at www.tepnel.com. About GenXTrakTM Located in Cambridge, the GenXTrak business combines highly effective,proprietary methods for DNA processing with extensive in-house expertise topurify and analyse DNA samples with great efficiency. The highly flexibleservice is ISO9001 compliant with a fully secured sample tracking system(TRACKBASE) that uses barcode technology to guarantee sample integrity to ensurethe best possible results. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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