Biotage buys rights to novel evaporation system

Biotage has acquired the exclusive distribution, production and further development rights to Vapourtec's solvent evaporation system, known as the V-10

After several years in development the V-10 was launched July 2005.

The agreement also provides for Vapourtec to deliver further developments and line extensions for the product within 2006.

The purchase price for the deal consists of an up-front payment and partial payments related to sales development.

The total purchase could reach at maximum £2.3million.

Commercial activities will begin immediately and sales for 2007 are expected to reach between US$5-10million.

"Evaporation presents a major bottleneck in chemistry and drug development.

"Vapourtec's V-10 substantially reduces sample drying time for pharmaceutical chemists and fills this void in our product lines," said Jeff Bork, Biotage CEO.

Duncan Guthrie, Vapourtec founder and CEO, adds: "Biotage was the logical choice for partnering.

"It has large scale production facilities, a global sales and service presence and we intend to have an excellent relationship going forward on mutual development programmes".

"Evaporation is a technique employed immediately following synthesis and purification - so it is essential that Biotage offer this technology.

"Vapourtec's V-10 was brought to our attention by some of our largest customers who participated in the product development phase.

"In addition to operating in batch mode at rates up to 40X faster than conventional evaporators, the Vapourtec product also operates in a continuous flow mode, which offers advantages not possible with alternative designs," stated Dave Patteson, president of Biotage's discovery chemistry group.

Biotage is active in life science research with strong technologies, a broad range of operations and a long-term view of the market.

The company offers knowledge and experience in the areas of genetic analysis and medicinal chemistry.

Customers include the worlds top 30 pharmaceutical companies, 20 largest biotech companies and leading academic institutes.

The company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the USA, Japan, UK and several other European countries.

Vapourtec is a research and technology company located close to Cambridge, UK.

Its strength is strong R and D focusing on the drug discovery and associated industries, with particular emphasis on medicinal chemistry.

Vapourtec works in close partnership with major pharmaceutical companies, with the objective of converting innovative processes into reliable instrumentation.

This Agreement with Biotage gives Vapourtec the opportunity to concentrate on additional novel technologies of benefit to the pharmaceutical industry.

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