Männedorf, Switzerland,  19 July 2004: - Tecan, a leading player in the Life Sciences supply industry, recently announced the introduction of two new integrated multi-channel pipetting platforms for liquid handling applications: Freedom EVO^96R and EVO^384R. The two new scalable solutions deliver significant time saving through true parallel processing and support fixed tips as well as disposable tips within a broad and unrivalled pipetting range. These new liquid handling automation systems will be presented at the “Drug Discovery Technology” exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, USA from August 8-13 on (booth 1720).

Tecan’s new Freedom EVO multi-channel solutions bring rapid sample dispensing and microplate processing to many key procedures in genomics, proteomics and drug discovery such as sample preparation, compound management or high-content screening.

With its 96-channel head, Freedom EVO^96R is the pipetting platform of choice for medium to high throughput pipetting in the range of 1 µl to 200 µl. Its brother, the Freedom EVO^384R multi-channel pipetting platform is suitable for high precision volume dispensing into 384-well plates and is ideal for medium-to-high throughput applications that demand a broad pipetting range reaching submicroliter volumes (200 nl – 50 µl). The unique wash system minimizes the risk of cross-contamination and removes the need for expensive disposable tips normally associated with this level of performance.

“Tecan’s new Freedom EVO multi-channel solutions offer significant time savings by allowing essential tasks, such as pipetting, head washing and tip exchange to be performed in parallel with robotic arm movement, tip loading, plate handling, detection, or any other scheduled process step”, comments Christoph Kaufmann, Product Group Manager Liquid Handling, at Tecan. “The new platforms are smarter, faster and simpler. They represent 20 years of Tecan’s experience in lab automation and liquid handling systems, delivering the best possible value to our customers.”

Both new platforms are controlled by Tecan’s intuitive Freedom EVOware software. Freedom EVOware provides an unmatched combination of flexibility and is easy-to-use for both beginners and experts alike, making set-up of complex multi-device schedules easy and rapid. Freedom EVOware offers the versatility to control both the Freedom EVO^96R and EVO^384R together with devices for detection, separation, plate handling and storage from Tecan as well as other third party devices.

For additional information, please contact:

Product information:

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:

Dr Marc Egelhofer
Northbank Communications Ltd
Tel.: +44 (0)44 260 296505
e-mail: m.egelhofer@northbankcommunications.com