Biotage releases new product for microwave synthesis

Biotage releases new product for microwave synthesis 7 May, 2004 Biotage has successfully marketed systems for microwave synthesis and has become the market leader in this area. The customers are laboratories where one system serves several chemists. However, market demand for a one-user product at a lower price has grown. As Biotage is now releasing a new generation of systems, the company can enter another market segment; the market for individual microwave synthesis systems. As an increasing number of medicinal chemists use microwave synthesis in the drug discovery process, Biotage sees a great potential for the new product; The Initiator. The Initiator is a compact modular instrument with high flexibility. It is user-friendly and cost efficient. Biotage will launch the new product at the Analytica conference in Munich 11-14 May and sales will start thereafter. The product is a part of the Discovery Chemistry product portfolio. The Initiator is important for Biotage's sales development as it opens up a new market segment and will hence contribute positively to the result in the second half of 2004. About Biotage Biotage is a global company active in life science research with strong technologies, a broad range of operations and a long-term view of the market. The company offers solutions, knowledge and experience in the areas of genetic analysis and medicinal chemistry. Customers include the world's top 30 pharmaceutical companies, 20 largest biotech companies and leading academic institutes. The company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the US, Japan and several European countries. Biotage has approx. 250 employees and had pro forma sales of 362 MSEK in 2003. Biotage is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. Website: www.biotage.com Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified by the use of forward- looking words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "intend," and "should," among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Biotage's current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Biotage notes that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations), variability of operating results, the commercial development of the microwave synthesis and flash purification in the drug discovery market, DNA sequencing and genomics market, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics market, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy markets, competition, rapid or unexpected changes in technologies, fluctuations in demand for Biotage's products (including seasonal fluctuations), difficulties in successfully adapting the Company's products to integrated solutions and producing such products, and the Company's ability to identify and develop new products and to differentiate its products from competitors. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/07/20040507BIT20720/wkr0007.pdf