Largest European commercial sequencing platform at GATC
GATC offers sequencing with new 454 technology

Konstanz (November 2006) - GATC is now offering genome sequencing using the new sequencing technology of 454 Life Sciences. This makes GATC the largest commercial sequencing service provider in Europe with a total capacity of more than 15.6 giga bases per year.

Only by combining the traditional Sanger technology with the new 454 technology, can genomes now be sequenced and analysed in half the usual project time, with a considerable reduction in the number of contigs and gaps. In addition, considerable cost advantages now makes genome sequencing with the 454 technology accessible to the research community.

The new technology can also be employed for many other applications, e.g. for sequencing of whole transcriptomes in a single run or for in-depth mutation analysis of rare mutations at much lower costs.

"We believe that the 454 technology is an important step towards a new era of DNA sequencing. We are very excited to be the first service provider in Europe who offers considerable time and cost advantages to the customers by integrating this innovative technology and combining it with the traditional Sanger method," says Peter Pohl, CEO of GATC Biotech AG.

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), Edinburgh (UK), Munich and Hamburg. The company is ISO-certified since 1997.

Contact:
Dr. Bernd Matzenbach
Senior Director Sales
Jakob-Stadler-Platz 7
D- 78467 Konstanz
Tel: +49-7531-8160-36
Fax:+49-7531-8160-81
b.matzenbach@gatc-biotech.com