Sartorius Inaugurates New Laboratory Building

  
    
  
  
    
      Today, the Sartorius Group (FWB:SRT) celebrated the official opening of 
      its new laboratory building for biotechnology at its German location in 
      Goettingen. Some 150 guests from the business, scientific and political 
      communities accepted CEO and Executive Board Chairman Dr. Joachim 
      Kreuzburg’s invitation to Sartorius College. 
      The guest of honor was Lower Saxony’s Prime 
      Minister Christian Wulff, who in addition to Prof. Dr. Arnold Picot, 
      Supervisory Board Chairman of Sartorius AG, addressed words of welcome 
      to the attendees. The Senior Executive Director of the prestigious 
      Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Prof. 
      Dr. Rainer Fischer, from Aachen, Germany, gave the celebratory address 
      on the latest developments in the biopharmaceutical field.
    
    
      After just eight months of construction, ultra-modern laboratories, 
      pilot plant stations and offices have taken shape on five stories and 
      covering a total area of some 3,000 square meters. With this new 
      building, Sartorius is expanding its capacity for research and 
      development in biotechnology by 60 percent. “The 
      new building is a further component of our strong focus on innovation,” 
      said Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg. “In addition, 
      it is visible proof of our confidence in the performance capabilities of 
      our employees and in the potential of the Goettingen location.” 
      Dr. Kreuzburg pointed out that since 2002, research and development 
      spending by the Sartorius Group has been increased by approximately 75 
      percent. A good 80 percent of the budget is channeled into Goettingen 
      every year, the Group’s main research 
      location, according to Dr. Kreuzburg. Employees’ 
      Council Chairman Uwe Bretthauer emphasized the close interlinkage 
      between the jobs in research and production. “If 
      research is expanded in Goettingen, this is also good news for our 
      employees in production and in related areas.”
    
    
      In the laboratories of the new building, new products and processes for 
      the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals are to be developed. In 
      particular, developers are working on innovative disposable technologies 
      that will contribute toward making complex production processes of 
      pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers faster, more efficient, safer 
      and more reliable.
    
    
      In addition to the new labs for cell culture technology and virology, a 
      process-scale test station was built in which customer-specific 
      applications can be tested and optimized.
    
    
      Sartorius primarily contracted construction companies from the region of 
      Lower Saxony to build the new laboratory complex. The topping-off 
      ceremony was celebrated after four months on December 15, 2006.
    
    
      This is a translation of the original German-language press release. 
      Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this 
      translation. The original German press release is the legally binding 
      version. Furthermore, Sartorius reserves the right not to be responsible 
      for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the 
      information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the 
      use of any information provided, including any kind of information which 
      is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.
    
    
      Current Image Files/Photos
    
    
      The new Sartorius laboratory building for biotechnology at the company’s 
      location in Goettingen, Germany
    
    
      http://www.sartorius.de/fileadmin/presse/Einweihung_Laborneubau.jpg
    
    
      Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO and Executive Board Chairman of Sartorius
    
    
      http://www.sartorius.com/uploads/media/Dr_Kreuzburg.jpg
    
    
      A profile of Sartorius
    
    
      The Sartorius Group is an internationally leading laboratory and process 
      technology provider covering the segments of biotechnology and 
      mechatronics. In 2006, the technology group earned sales revenue of 
      521.1 million euros. The Goettingen-based company founded in 1870 
      currently employs approximately 3,900 persons. Its biotechnology segment 
      focuses on filtration and separation products as well as fermenters and 
      bioreactors. For the mechatronics segment in particular, the company 
      manufactures equipment and systems featuring weighing, measurement and 
      automation technology for laboratory and industrial applications, as 
      well as hydrodynamic bearings. Key Sartorius customers are from the 
      pharmaceutical, chemical and food and beverage industries and from 
      numerous research and educational institutes of the public sector. 
      Sartorius has its own production facilities in Europe, Asia and America 
      as well as sales subsidiaries and local commercial agencies in more than 
      110 countries.