GATC Biotech AG

April 2008

GATC ramps up its fleet of next-gen sequencers with second GS FLX

Constance, Germany, 16. April 2008 - GATC Biotech, Europe’s leading sequencing service provider, today announced the acquisition of a second Genome Sequencer FLX next-gen sequencing system from Roche Diagnostics. By adding the new instrument, the total annual sequencing capacity at GATC's laboratories in Constance will jump to 450 gigabases, provided by five ABI 3730XL and one SOLiD system, one Illumina Genome Analyzer and two Roche GS FLXs.

GATC's decision to add an additional GS FLX to its service offering was based both on soaring demand for ultra high-throughput sequencing services as well as the goal to set new industry standards.

“Having two GS FLXs available enables us to execute very demanding sequencing projects on short notice and handle production peaks much better. For example, we are able to run one instrument with a paired-end application and the other one with single reads,” said Thomas Pohl, explaining the company’s decision for the new acquisition. “Timely production of high quality data is crucial if you want to be a reliable sequencing partner to industry and academia. Using two GS FLX systems, our sequencing facility runs without downtimes.” At GATC, the GS FLX systems are mostly used for de novo sequencing as well as for transcriptome and metagenome analysis.

“We are impressed by the growth of GATC’s sequencing business, which reflects their dedication to customers. By doubling 454 Sequencing capacity, GATC is responding to the strong demand for long reads and high quality results at an affordable price point,” said Chris McLeod, President of 454 Life Sciences, a member of the Roche Group. “GATC’s addition of a second GS FLX demonstrates the platform’s status as a sequencing standard.”

About Roche

454 Life Sciences, a center of excellence of Roche Applied Science, develops and commercializes the innovative Genome Sequencer™ system for ultra-high-throughput DNA sequencing. Specific applications include de novo sequencing and re-sequencing of genomes, metagenomics, RNA analysis, and targeted sequencing of DNA regions of interest. The hallmarks of 454 Sequencing™ are its simple, unbiased sample preparation and long, highly accurate sequence reads, including paired reads. 454 Sequencing technology has enabled many peer-reviewed studies in diverse research fields, such as cancer and infectious disease research, drug discovery, marine biology, anthropology, paleontology and many more.

Kontakt:

GATC Biotech AG
Elke Decker

Senior Director Marketing
Jakob-Stadler-Platz 7
D-78467 Konstanz
Tel: +49-7531-8160-30
Fax: +49-7531-8160-81
e.decker@gatc-biotech.com