CARLSBAD, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced that it has signed an agreement with DaAn Gene, a leading Chinese company in molecular in-vitro diagnostics (IVD), to form Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostics, a joint venture diagnostics business in China. The move is expected to contribute to the early diagnosis of oncology, infectious diseases and genetic diseases. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostics with its headquarters in Guangzhou, will develop and commercialize a portfolio of molecular diagnostic assays using Life Technologies' 3500Dx Capillary Electrophoresis instrument and the Big Dye® Cycle Sequencing technologies, focused on IVD assays for oncology, infectious and genetic diseases. The joint venture allows both companies to expand the use of Capillary Electrophoresis technology into the Chinese clinical diagnostics market.
"This joint venture strengthens the foundation of our clinical diagnostics business and represents a big leap forward for our business in China," said Gregory Lucier, Chairman and CEO of Life Technologies. "As a leading biotechnology company, we are at the forefront of a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. This joint venture and its products will play a key role in disease prevention and therapy selection and is complementary to the Chinese government's 12th five-year plan to promote national economic and social development."
"The joint venture will help us offer leading medical diagnostic technologies with cost-effective solutions to Chinese healthcare professionals," said Dr. Siddhartha Kadia, President of Life Technologies, Greater China. "This approach leverages our expertise in platform development and DaAn's expertise in regulated markets with kit development and commercialization."
"Twenty years ago, the cooperation between DaAn and Applied Biosystems brought PCR technology into China's molecular diagnostic field, positioning China with the most potential to become the world's largest PCR market for clinical diagnostics. Today, the cooperation with Life Technologies introduces DaAn's products to the global marketplace, while bringing Life's superior technologies into China's IVD market. Together, we are working toward becoming a premium IVD product supplier that has global impact," said Zhou Xinyu, CEO of DaAn Gene.
Life Technologies' 3500Dx instrument is a capillary-based Sanger Sequencer intended for use in the analysis of human DNA for the detection of genetic changes that may lead to disease presence or improved response to various therapies. Life Technologies' Sanger Sequencers supplied the technology that powered the Human Genome Project. Sanger instruments remain the sequencing gold-standard for accuracy, reliability and ease of use. The 3500Dx Genetic Analyzer was approved by China State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for IVD diagnostic use in China in October 2011.
About DaAn Gene Co., Ltd.
DaAn Gene Co., Ltd. of Sun Yat-sen University (SZSE: 002030) is China's premier bio-tech enterprise focusing on decoding genetic life to assure human health. DaAn is dedicated to providing all-encompassing molecular diagnostic solutions from R&D of reagents and instruments, to manufacturing, to sales, and even to providing service through our nationwide medical independent lab. It also hosts the base for the National High-tech Industrialization Demonstration Project. Taking "Innovative Technology, Quality First, Preserving Integrity, and Service Foremost" as their mantra, DaAn Gene has successfully acquired the Certificate of ISO13485:2003 Registration, and subsequently it has obtained CE-Certificates for several varieties of diagnostic kits, and acquiring an annual reagent production capacity of 20 million tests. As a leader in molecular biology techniques, especially in the development and application of genetic diagnosis related products, DaAn has become the top choice for various national, provincial, and city health related projects. In 20 years of development, DaAn Gene has grown to employ over 800 people, including more than 100 doctors, graduates and overseas scientists. As of today, DaAn Gene has set up a distribution network covering all of mainland China, and the sales extending to other countries. For more information please visit: http://www.daangene.com/
About Life Technologies
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific and medical advancements that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance the fields of discovery and translational research, molecular medicine, stem cell-based therapies, food safety and animal health, and 21st century forensics. The company manufactures both molecular diagnostic and research use only products. Life Technologies' industry-leading brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, Gibco, Ambion, Molecular Probes and Taqman products. Life Technologies had sales of $3.6 billion in 2010, has a workforce of approximately 11,000 people, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual property estates in the life sciences industry, with approximately 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses. For more information on how we are making a difference, please visit our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com. Follow Life Technologies on Twitter @LIFECorporation and on Facebook.
Life Technologies' Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements about Life Technologies' anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and Life Technologies' plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by Life Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Life Technologies undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Media Contacts:
Vivian Lv
Corporate Communications, Greater China
Life Technologies
86-10-84461901
[email protected]
Mauricio Minotta
Corporate Communications, United States
760-929-2456
[email protected]
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SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation