GATC Biotech AG Honoured for Pioneering Ingenuity Poised for the Future

Constance, Germany, May 26, 2008 - GATC Biotech, Europe’s leading sequencing service supplier, made a believer out of the jury of the German competition on Germany – a Land of Ideas with its idea of "NightXpress" night sequencing service. This is why it was honoured by being included among the 365 Cities in the Land of Ideas 2008.

Stephan Hettich, director of the Constance Branch of Deutsche Bank, presented the role of honour to Peter Pohl, the CEO of GATC Biotech AG along with a document signed by the German President Horst Köhler, the patron of this competition.

NightXpress is GATC’s way of offering a time-saving DNA sequencing service poised for the future to its customers in several German cities. DNA samples of all types of organism are picked up from institutes, research laboratories and companies in the evening and brought to Constance. There they are sequenced in the same night so that scientists can call up the sequence data in internet at 9 o’clock the next morning. That puts them as much as two days ahead of conventional services.

We caught up with Peter Pohl, the CEO of GATC Biotech AG, and he said, “We’re proud of the honour given us because we see it as recognition of our performance and pioneering ingenuity. We lead the way in innovation in DNA sequencing because NightXpress enables our customers to accelerate the pace of their research.”

Germany – a Land of Ideas is the drive for greater investment supported jointly by the German federal government and the German private economy represented by the Federation of German Industries. The Deutsche Bank has also been putting great efforts into the drive for greater investment for three years. 1,500 companies, research institutes, projects and cultural/social-welfare institutions competed in this event.

Each "Select City 2008" showcased itself and its idea on one day in 2008. GATC is celebrating the award on July 9th by inviting school classes interested in science from Constance and the surrounding area to a "Genetics Day". The laboratories of GATC will show them how hereditary material (DNA) is sequenced.

GATC got expert and fascinating support for this day because the rolling laboratory "BioLab Baden-Württemberg" will be on the grounds of GATC. It contains a completely equipped S1 safety level genetic laboratory that will be available to the groups of schoolchildren to give them the opportunity to do the work of a researcher and get an idea of the everyday work in a laboratory. Three experienced scientists will be supervising the laboratory.

Beyond this, a poster show and exhibition objects will provide easily comprehensible and sound scientific information on the basic factors, interrelations and area of applications of modern life sciences and biotechnology.

Contact:

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