Madison, WI: EMD Biosciences, Inc. (EMD), a major supplier of premium tools for proteomics and disease pathway analysis known through its global brands Calbiochem^®, Novabiochem^®, and Novagen^® today announced it has formed a strategic partnership with The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world-leading manufacturer of innovative industrial automation for life science applications. EMD is part of the Life Science and Analytics (LSA) division of Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) and operates as EMD Biosciences, Inc. in North America and Merck Biosciences outside North America. This partnership enables EMD and TAP to optimize and validate EMD's high-throughput products on the Piccolo™ system, TAP’s fully automated system for recombinant protein production. Combining EMD's and TAP's expertise has produced an ideal solution for researchers seeking a robust platform for high-performance cell culture, protein expression, cell lysis, and purification.

Applying key reagents from the EMD portfolio to the flexible Piccolo system ensures that scientists can immediately use this research platform to generate proteins from bacterial or insect cells without the time-consuming, labor-intensive steps typically involved in manual optimization of protein production. As a result, researchers can quickly and efficiently produce the recombinant proteins needed for high-throughput development and screening of potential drug leads. EMD has established a streamlined reagent ordering procedure to further benefit Piccolo system users.

The Piccolo system, an essential technology for assay development and protein engineering laboratories, was developed in consultation with a consortium of leading experts from three major pharmaceutical companies. The system, which combines bacterial and insect cell culture with automated harvesting, lysis, and purification units, is fully compatible with EMD’s well-established Novagen-brand reagents and means scientists can rapidly identify the best construct and host strain, and readily recreate optimal culture conditions for target proteins.

Tom Foti, Director of Business Development at EMD, states: “We are pleased to be working alongside such a high-quality company as TAP, which is willing to expend considerable energy ensuring that our cell culture, lysis, and affinity purification reagents are fully compatible with its system. The combination of our reagents and the Piccolo system creates a powerful platform that will allow drug discovery researchers to streamline the painstaking process of protein expression optimization and, thus, enable them to more rapidly screen and identify medically relevant proteins.”

Dr. Richard Wales, of the Business Development Group at TAP continues: “We are equally delighted to be working with EMD in a true partnership, because of the company’s excellent reputation for providing a comprehensive range of innovative products for cell lysis and affinity purification. EMD’s manufacturing capabilities and knowledgeable staff can meet the research needs of scientists involved in the large-scale protein supply so vital to drug discovery and development programs.”

Thomas Foti, M.B.A.
EMD Biosciences, Inc.
441 Charmany Drive
Madison, WI 53719
United States
Tel: 608 442 4004
Toll-free: 800 526 7319
Fax: 608 238 1388
Email: tom.foti@emdbiosciences.com
Web: www.emdbiosciences.com

About EMD Biosciences, Inc.: EMD Biosciences, Inc. provides a broad range of innovative life science research products used world-wide in disease-related life science research at universities as well as in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The company is part of Merck KGaA's Life Science and Analytics (LSA) division and operates as EMD Biosciences, Inc. in North America and Merck Biosciences outside North America. Globally, EMD Biosciences is known in the scientific community through its product brands Calbiochem^®, Novabiochem^®, and Novagen^®.

About Merck KGaA: Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with sales of EUR 7.2 billion in 2003, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by 28,300 employees in 56 countries. Its success is characterized by innovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck's operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the Merck family holds a 74% interest and free shareholders own the remaining 26%. The former U.S. subsidiary, Merck & Co., has been completely independent of the Merck Group since 1917.

About The Automation Partnership: The Automation Partnership (TAP) is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of advanced industrial automation solutions for the life sciences industry. The Company provides systems for automating and integrating processes for cell culture, sample management, screening, and genomics applications. Over 100 TAP cell culture systems are installed at major pharmaceutical companies world-wide and these include Amgen, AstraZeneca, Aventis Pasteur, Avigen, Baxter Vaccines, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Roche.

TAP, founded in 1988, is a private company with headquarters near Cambridge, UK and a U.S. sales and support office in Wilmington, Delaware. The Company, which employs over 180 staff, has profitable revenue of almost $40 million and continues to grow by developing and supplying successful market driven automation products.

Calbiochem, Novabiochem, and Novagen are registered trademarks of EMD Biosciences, Inc. Piccolo is a trademark of The Automation Partnership.