Celadon Pharmaceuticals Regulatory News (CEL)

22 Sep 2005 07:03

Celsis International PLC22 September 2005 Celsis Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement with BioVentures Inc. Next generation of products offer potential to develop real-time microbiological testing 22 September 2005: Celsis International plc, the rapid microbial detection andanalytical services company, announces that it has signed an exclusive licensingagreement with BioVentures Inc. to develop next generation products for rapidmicrobial and virus detection. The objective of such products is to enable thereal-time and accurate detection of contamination for customers in thepharmaceutical, biotechnology, personal care and beverage industries, thussaving costs and time and preventing the need for product recalls. Screening for contamination has become an essential part of the manufacturingprocess as customers increasingly recognise the vital importance of ensuringproduct quality and consumer safety. Celsis currently offers manufacturers withrapid testing solutions, which provide results in 18 - 24 hours compared to themultiple days associated with traditional methods (including petri dishes). Theproducts developed through this new agreement will benefit customers bysignificantly reducing the time to results to a few hours or less, whileproviding more information than permitted by current testing methodologies.Better and faster information will provide significant economic benefits tocustomers by reducing manufacturing cycle times and working capitalrequirements. Through deploying Celsis' detection technology, customers arealso able to manage product quality and avoid costly product failures andrecalls. This new licensing agreement covers BioVentures' patented and patent pendinghigh density microarray technology which offers revolutionary improvements tothe consistency, reproducibility and cost effectiveness of microarrays.Additionally, the BioVenture microarray offers improved design flexibilityallowing for increased sensitivity and ease of interpretation. The jointdevelopment plan will also encompass nucleic acid testing and other rapiddetection technologies. The industrial microbiology market is currently valued at about $3bn and isexpected to grow to $4.5bn by 2008. Rapid testing methods are a key driver ofmarket growth. Jay LeCoque, Chief Executive Officer of Celsis, commented: "With an increasing number of high profile and highly damaging productcontamination stories, industry is looking for cost-effective and rapidmicrobiological testing products. Celsis is already at the forefront of suchtechnology but we believe that this partnership with BioVentures will enable usto very substantially increase the speed and accuracy of our detection services.In addition to the clear benefits for consumer safety, these next generationproducts have the potential to add significant time and cost savings to ourcustomers. Our objective is for these products to become a 'must have' acrossthe manufacturing industry, maintaining and expanding Celsis' competitiveadvantage in the field on microbial testing." Elliott Dawson, President of BioVentures Inc., said: "We are confident that our technological strengths and Celsis' market leadershipand capabilities in microbial detection will prove to be a successfulcombination. We are pleased to have the depth of understanding and marketleadership that our partner, Celsis, brings to this relationship and eagerlyanticipate entering into this attractive growth market with our technology. Wetherefore look forward to working with Celsis on this licensing and jointdevelopment programme." Enquiries: Celsis International plc Tel: 01638 600 151Jay LeCoque, Chief Executive OfficerJenny Parsons, Corporate Communications Financial Dynamics Tel: 020 7831 3113David Yates/Ben Atwell Notes to editors Celsis International plc Celsis International plc is a rapid microbial detection and analytical servicescompany operating through two divisions, the Product Group and the LaboratoryGroup. Using its proprietary enzyme technology, the Product Group is the world leaderin the provision of diagnostic systems for the rapid detection of microbialcontamination. It works in close collaboration with many of the world's leadingpharmaceutical, personal care and beverage companies, ensuring the safety andquality of products bound for consumers. The Laboratory Group providesoutsourced analytical testing services to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticalcompanies to ensure the quality, stability and chemical composition of theirproducts. In addition to ensuring product quality and safety for consumers, both divisionshave the capacity to deliver substantial cost savings to Celsis' customers. Byreducing the time it takes to evaluate raw and in-process materials and releasefinished goods to the market place, Celsis' products facilitate increasedmanufacturing productivity and improved supply chain management. Celsis International plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (CEL.L).Further information can be found on the Company's website at www.celsis.com. BioVentures Inc BioVentures is a privately held company based outside of Nashville, USA.BioVentures develops and provides products that are used in primary research anddrug discovery including customers such as the National Institutes of Health,the Center for Disease Control, leading academic institutions and most of themajor instrument providers to the field. BioVentures products improve thequality and consistency of genomic based testing and is the market leader in thehigh quality manufacturing of fluorescent calibration markers for geneomic andforensic analysis. BioVentures' production facilities and procedures are vendorinspected for compliance with ISO and GMP. BioVentures creates products to meetcustomer requirements with exacting standards, ensuring solutions that meet costobjectives as well as critical performance targets. For further information about BioVentures please go to www.bioventures.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange