- SSB and ATMI LifeSciences agree to add ATMI's Magnetic Mixer for Single Use Mixing and its Bioreactor Technology to their existing single-use technology partnership.
- Alliance ensures long-term supply continuity.
DANBURY, Conn. and AUBAGNE, France, June 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATMI, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI) and Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. (SSB) today announced that they have extended their marketing and distribution alliance by adding new technologies. The new agreement grants global marketing and distribution rights to ATMI's patented Magnetic Mixer technology to Sartorius Stedim Biotech. ATMI's Magnetic Mixer is a mobile, flexible mixing system designed for aggressive mixing applications in a wide range of volumes. It is ideal for biopharmaceutical processes that require powerful mixing torque, such as buffer preparation, media preparation, and final product formulation applications.
Under the extended agreement, Sartorius Stedim Biotech also retains continued distribution and marketing rights to ATMI LifeSciences' LevMixer® mixing system technology, which SSB has been marketing since April 2008. The LevMixer system is a single-use mixing system which uses patented technology to levitate and drive a single-use impeller inside sterile bags. It is mainly used for liquid-to-liquid applications in downstream purification and sensitive formulation steps, as well as easy-to-dissolve powders, such as salts and buffers.
In addition, the expanded agreement grants SSB rights to ATMI's portfolio of bioreactor-related intellectual property, which allows SSB to further enable its line of BIOSTAT® CultiBag STR Single Use bioreactors.
The supply and marketing agreement is a five-year, global agreement containing an additional five-year continuity of supply clause.
"With this agreement, we continue to assure the market and our customers of a strong commitment to innovation, continuity of supply and delivery of leading-edge, single-use technologies," said Mario Philips, Senior Vice President and General Manager of ATMI LifeSciences. "We are pleased to continue to expand our partnership with SSB, which we consider to be of tremendous importance to our global customers pursuing single-use solutions that enable bioprocess efficiencies."
"Following our successful cooperation over the past couple of years, we are now strengthening our alliance to include new technologies," stated Jean-Marc Cappia, the Vice President of Marketing, Fluid Management Technologies at SSB. "This long-term agreement allows us to continue to expand our offerings and expertise in single-use mixing technologies and broadly deliver solutions for all unit operations in a fast-growing biopharmaceutical market, while also delivering breakthrough bioreactor technology for our new product pipeline."
In all, the agreement further strengthens the relationship between the companies and illustrates their commitment to delivering technologies and products that drive bioprocess efficiencies for a customer base looking more and more to single-use solutions.
ATMI's industry-leading technologies have helped to drive industry-wide the awareness, acceptance and growth of single-use bioprocessing technologies. With innovation that includes advancements in vessel and sparger design, mixing techniques, friction-reducing approaches and superior clean-film manufacturing, ATMI is helping the biopharmaceutical market achieve important improvements in processing economies and efficiencies.
In tandem, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has long been a critical partner for ATMI LifeSciences and is known globally as a world-class provider of value-added systems and solutions for biopharmaceutical customers at many major points in the manufacturing process.
About ATMI LifeSciences
ATMI LifeSciences is a leader in single-use mixing, storage, and bioreactor technology, fluoropolymer-based products, and custom-engineered, flexible packaging solutions.
The business's fundamental knowledge of polymers, specially selected resins and its cleanroom manufacturing experience converge to help drive optimum performance in critical disposable process operations. For more information, please visit www.atmi-lifesciences.com.
About ATMI
ATMI, Inc. provides specialty semiconductor materials, and high-purity materials handling and delivery solutions designed to increase process efficiencies for the worldwide semiconductor, flat panel, and life sciences industries.
For more information, please visit http://www.atmi.com.
The ATMI, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5254
ATMI, the ATMI logo, and LevMixer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. in the United States, other countries or both.
BIOSTAT is a registered trademark of Sartorius Stedim Biotech.
Statements contained herein that relate to ATMI's future performance, including, without limitation, statements with respect to ATMI's anticipated results of operations or level of business for 2010 or any other future period, are forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations only and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including, but not limited to, changes in semiconductor industry growth (including, without limitation, wafer starts) or ATMI's markets; competition, problems, or delays developing, commercializing and delivering new products; customer-driven pricing pressure; potential loss of key customers; problems or delays in integrating acquired operations and businesses; uncertainty in the credit and financial markets; ability to protect ATMI's proprietary technology; and other factors described in ATMI's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, and other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. ATMI undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech
Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading provider of cutting-edge equipment and services for the development, quality assurance and production processes of the biopharmaceutical industry. Its integrated solutions covering fermentation, filtration, purification, fluid management and lab technologies are supporting the biopharmaceutical industry around the world to develop and produce drugs safely, timely and economically. Sartorius Stedim Biotech focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Strongly rooted in the scientific community and closely allied with customers and technology partners, the company is dedicated to its philosophy of "turning science into solutions." Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech enjoys a worldwide presence. Its key manufacturing and R&D site is in Germany. The company employs approximately 2,400 people, and in 2009 earned sales revenue of 401.2 million euros.
For more information, please visit http://www.sartorius-stedim.com.
This press release contains statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. We cannot guarantee that the content of these statements will actually apply because these statements are based upon assumptions and estimates that harbor certain risks and uncertainties.