• Fully automated solutions for a wide range of clinical diagnostic applications
• Easy-to-use platforms offering high throughput, flexibility and reliability
• Outstanding microplate processing capabilities

Zurich, Switzerland, 15 April 2002  – Research personnel in diagnostic laboratories must perform a wide range of experiments and analytical tests to provide high quality diagnostic data. In many cases, these processes are labor-intensive and would benefit considerably from automated testing systems. Tecan, a leading player in the fast-growing Life Science industry, now offers three different fully automated assay systems that have been specifically designed to perform a wide range of applications in the clinical diagnostic laboratory. These applications range from clinical infectious disease screening and tumor marker detection up to food, hormone and autoimmune antibody testing.

To deliver outstanding performance for the automation of laboratory procedures, each of Tecan’s assay platforms offers flexibility, microplate processing capabilities and different high throughput capabilities. Tecan’s automated platforms are ideally suited for laboratories performing Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) and Enzyme Immunoassays (EIA) using kits from a wide range of manufacturers.

Genesis RMP. The Genesis RMP (Robotic Microplate Processor) offers blood banks, hospitals, reference and pharmaceutical laboratories the possibility of performing diagnostic analyses with up to 18 microplates per run and can provide an annual throughput of up to 600 000 tests. A further hardware modification can extend this impressive performance to 30-40 plates per run. Depending on the requirements, this platform may be fitted with three differently sized worktables (RMP 100/150/200) to meet the throughput requirements of the end user.

MiniSwift. MiniSwift offers a maximum throughput of 180 000 tests per annum. Through its parallel processing of up to four assays on four plates at the same time it is the ideal system for medium throughput blood banks and laboratories. This includes screening using immunoassays for  disease-causing agents such as hepatitis B and C viruses and the human immunodeficiency virus.

Minilyser. When an average throughput of up to 80 000 tests per annum is required, Minilyser is an ideal choice for applications such as viral testing, food screening, and hormone and allergy testing. This fully automated four-plate instrument can process up to 20 assays on four plates simultaneously.

Tecan works closely with its customers to assess their needs and select the most suitable instrument to meet their requirements. In addition to providing open systems to customers, Tecan also offers customized platforms that may include additional software and supplementary databases. For the performance of different assays on all three instruments, outstanding file handling capabilities offer many advantages in terms of ease of use. For example, manufacturer-defined and validated databases may be easily transferred from one instrument to another to make previously validated assays available to all end users. For additional flexibility, further single assays may also be easily included (import/export option).

All of Tecan’s assay platforms come complete with flexible user friendly software. For the Genesis RMP, Tecan will shortly release a new version of its TOPS (Test Oriented Plate Scheduler) operating software. TOPS V4.00 allows users to integrate additional instruments, for example luminometers, cooling devices and other incubators, in the Genesis RMP assay platform. The new software includes the plate test manager – for fully traceable data management of the results – and the integration of the Magellan data reduction software.

The Genesis RMP, MiniSwift and Minilyser from Tecan are excellent solutions for a wide range of clinical laboratories that may have different needs for throughput and flexibility in laboratory automation. Blood banks, hospitals, reference laboratories and pharmaceutical companies all stand to benefit from the different capabilities offered by these competitively priced instruments.

Tecan (www.tecan.com) is a leading player in the fast growing Life Sciences supply industry that specializes in the development, production, and distribution of solutions enabling the discovery of pharmaceutical substances, as well as for genomics, proteomics, and diagnostics. Tecan clients are leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, university research departments and diagnostic laboratories. Founded in Switzerland in 1980, the company has manufacturing, research and development sites in both North America and Europe and maintains a sales and service network in 52 countries. In 2001, Tecan achieved sales of CH 361.9 million (USD 214.1 million; EUR 239.6 million).  Registered shares of Tecan Group are traded on the Swiss SWX stock exchange (TK: TECN / Reuters: TECZn.S / Valor : 1210019).  

For more information, please contact :

Product information:

Tecan Group Ltd.
Cornelia Kegele
Manager Marketing Communications and Branding
Tel.: +41 (0)44 922 81 11
Fax: +41 (0)44 922 82 81
e-mail: cornelia.kegele@tecan.com
Internet: www.tecan.com

Editorial contact:

Rochat & Partners
Barry Whyte
Geneva
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0)22 786 54 55
Fax: +41 (0)22 786 54 58
e-mail: barry@rochat-pr.ch

Investor Relations:

Tecan Group Ltd.
Annabelle Brameshuber
Corporate Communications
Tel.: +41 (0)44 922 8430
e-mail: investor@tecan.com