Biacore launches its Own Operation in China

Own sales and marketing organization will enhance company’s ability to capture this high growth market opportunity

Uppsala, Sweden, 11th May, 2006. Biacore International AB (Biacore) (SSE: BCOR) announced today that it has formally launched its own operation in China, and is taking over full business responsibility for its products in the People’s Republic of China. The new organization is designed to take Biacore’s business to the next stage of its development in the rapidly growing market for life science instrumentation in China. The new Chinese operation will be headed by Peter Lee, the former Regional Sales Manager for GE Healthcare in Southern China. He will lead a team of six people based in Shanghai that will be responsible for the sales, marketing, applications support and service of Biacore’s systems in China. In the outlying areas of the country Biacore will be supported by a network of local dealers and distributors. The organization will target customers in the life science research, pharmaceutical and biotechnology and food sectors. The market for life science instrumentation in China was estimated to be worth $1.6 billion in 2005*, having more than doubled in value since 1998. Over the next several years the Chinese market for life science instrumentation is expected to grow significantly as the government continues to invest in new centers of excellence in the areas of proteomics and genomics. In addition the industrial customer base for Biacore’s systems is forecast to increase at a rapid pace, given the growing number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who are setting up significant research organizations in China. As well as developing conventional western pharmaceutical products, the pharmaceutical industry in China is looking more closely at traditional Chinese medicines as a potential source of new drugs, a trend which is expected to be an important positive in driving the demand for Biacore’s systems. Erik Walldén, Biacore’s President and CEO commented: “I am pleased to announce this important strategic development for Biacore, and at the same time I would like to thank GE Healthcare, our previous distributor, for a good initial job of establishing Biacore’s Chinese business. We believe that China has the potential to become a major market for our products and having our own organization will be crucial in achieving our medium term sales targets. Given the broad range of customers and applications that our systems address, it is crucial that we are in a position to market their key benefits directly to the customers that we target. Given his previous success with Biacore’s products in China I am sure that Peter Lee and his team will be able to quickly build a much larger business for us in this key strategic market.” * Chemical & Engineering News April 3 2006 Page 61 – Ends – For further information, please contact: Terry Pizzie, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations+44 (0) 7917395552 Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries: Sue Cresswell, Market Communication Director +41 (0) 79 710 8311 About Biacore Biacore is a global supplier of systems for protein interaction analysis, an area of increasing importance for scientists in the academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic markets. The Company's systems generate unique data on the interactions between proteins and other molecules, including small molecules such as drug candidates. During research, development and manufacture, these data give insights into protein functionality, elucidate disease mechanisms and play a key role in the critical decisions needed for efficient development and production of therapeutics. Biacore’s products are used in key areas such as antibody characterization, proteomics, lead characterization, immunogenicity, biotherapeutic development and production. The Company offers a range of products to meet specific application needs. Customers include leading life science research centers, all of the leading global pharmaceutical companies, and a large number of companies in the emerging biotechnology sector. Biacore also markets food analysis solutions, providing key manufacturers with a system and ready-to-use kits for the determination of food quality and safety. The company has its own direct sales capability in the world's key markets (United States, Europe, Japan, China, Australia) and a distribution network in Asia-Pacific. Biacore was founded in 1984 and is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE:BCOR). Further information on Biacore can be found at: www.biacore.com