DPC and Thermo Electron Sign Distribution Agreement

10-Aug-2004

diagnostic products Corporation (NYSE - DP) and Thermo Electron Corporation (NYSE - TMO) announce a distribution agreement for the Thermo Konelab clinical chemistry systems and the TCAutomation laboratory automation products. The agreement provides DPC with distribution rights to sell the Konelab clinical chemistry systems for human clinical diagnostics and veterinary testing in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. In France and Germany, DPC will lead efforts to market the Konelab product line when sold together with the IMMULITE® family of systems, while both companies will continue to serve their other customers. The agreement also provides DPC with nonexclusive distribution rights to the TCAutomation product line when sold together with the IMMULITE systems and Konelab clinical chemistry systems.

"This is a new direction for DPC and we are very excited about this partnership" said Ira Ziering, Senior Vice President, International, DPC. "It provides DPC with the opportunity to sell a consolidated offering of both systems and menu to cover nearly all of a laboratory's clinical chemistry and immunoassay testing needs, together with state-of-the-art automation, all of which many laboratories today demand."

Ziering added, "There are currently approximately 3,000 IMMULITE 2000 systems serving the needs of many laboratories worldwide in a variety of testing environments for immunoassay. The recent addition of the IMMULITE 2500 SMS to our family of systems means that DPC can now offer true STAT testing capability to the clinical laboratory market, further enhancing our global offering. The SMS (Sample Management System) component offers even more flexibility in processing immunoassay tests and provides the link to the TCAutomation. The complete workcell product provides customers with an optimal solution for routine testing."

"DPC is one of the leading immunoassay suppliers in the world, and we believe that Thermo's clinical chemistry and laboratory automation system products will be well represented by DPC," said Marc Casper, President of the Life and Laboratory Sciences Group of Thermo Electron. "The combination of immunoassay, clinical chemistry and automation products will be a very attractive solution for current and new customers."

Continued Casper, "We have successfully marketed Thermo's Konelab generation of clinical chemistry systems for many years, with more than 2,000 Konelab systems installed in routine and specialty testing laboratories worldwide. The partnership with DPC allows us to continue to build on the success of our product lines by effectively addressing two of the key demands of laboratories today: the need for a consolidated, broad menu offering and the need to automate laboratory processes."

https://www.analytica-world.com/en/news/39010/dpc-and-thermo-electron-sign-distribution-agreement.html