GATC refuses Frost & Sullivan Marketing Strategy Leadership Award

Konstanz, September 14, 2006 - GATC Biotech AG, with headquarters in Constance, refuses the "2006 Frost & Sullivan Marketing Strategy Leadership Award". The award was presented by Frost & Sullivan, a US American consulting firm, in recognition of GATC's marketing strategies in the European bioinformatics market.

In order for GATC to publicise details of the award with Frost & Sullivan's acceptance, GATC was asked to pay a licence fee in the amount of several thousand Euros. In addition, Frost & Sullivan would reserve the right to approve GATC's literature prior to publication.

"We do not pay any licence fee for the publication of an award, even if it is considered by Frost & Sullivan as common practice in the industry," says Elke Decker, Senior Marketing Director of GATC. "Such an award might boost a company's ego, however, it does not add any value to the customer. Moreover, we believe that paying for the publication of an award is ethically questionable."

According to Frost & Sullivan and following extensive market research, this award is presented each year to a company whose marketing strategy has yielded significant gains in market presence during the research period.

About GATC:
GATC Biotech (www.gatc-biotech.com), with headquarters in Constance, Germany, is a leading provider of molecular biological services and innovative bioinformatics solutions for industry and academia worldwide. GATC’s portfolio contains services in the areas of genome sequencing, high throughput and custom sequencing, transcriptomics and functional analysis, complemented by a wide range of bioinformatic software, e.g. Lasergene™ (DNA sequence analysis software) by DNASTAR Inc., ERGO™ (Genome Analysis Suite) by Integrated Genomics, as well as Mutation Surveyor™/Mutation Explorer™ (DNA variant analysis software) and GeneMarker™ (Software for AFLP and genotyping) by SoftGenetics. Today, GATC has 45 employees and serves 3000 customers in 40 countries. In 2005 GATC celebrated its 15th anniversary. Most of GATC‘s employees are scientists with long-term experience in biotechnology, molecular biology and chemistry. GATC has subsidiaries in Cambridge (UK) and Marseille (F) as well as offices in Tägerwilen (CH), Edinbourgh (UK), Munich and Hamburg. The company is ISO-certified since 1997.


Contact:
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