Waters Partners with State of North Carolina to Hone Skills of Growing BioPharmaceutical Manufacturing Workforce

MILFORD, Mass., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) announced today that it is partnering with the NC BioNetwork Pharmaceutical Center, and their new Analytical Training Lab, in Winston-Salem, NC, to educate and train students and workers in the life sciences, including those entering the state's burgeoning biopharmaceutical industry. The Pharmaceutical Center, which is a collaborative effort between Forsyth Technical Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, and the North Carolina Community College System, has chosen to standardize on Waters analytical technologies, including Waters® ACQUITY UltraPerformance LC® (UPLC®) System, to teach students practical skills associated with instrument and method validation, as well as instrument qualification.

BioNetwork meets the specialized needs of the state's biotechnology based industries by training workers and developing educational curricula for the state's 58 community colleges. It supports North Carolina's goal to build on its success as a biopharmaceutical manufacturing center by educating and training its incumbent workforce and the 2,000 - 3,000 new industry workers added each year to the state's employment rolls in biotechnology.

"Our primary goal is to assist North Carolina's Community College System with instructional tools and training necessary to meet the needs of workers in pharmaceutical manufacturing and other life science industries," explains Doug Drabble, Pharmaceutical Training Center Manager. "This includes current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), regulatory compliance, Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), quality control, and statistical analysis. We chose to partner with Waters since they've clearly demonstrated their commitment and support of workplace development and training."

BioNetwork supports the training and development needs of 7,800 workers and students at colleges, universities, and manufacturers throughout the state of North Carolina, including 1,600 who work in analytical laboratories. The Pharmaceutical Center now offers both basic and advanced training and provides open enrollment to companies anywhere with workforce training needs. Waters will supplement the Center's course offerings with advanced training in HPLC troubleshooting and maintenance, UPLC®, HPLC method development and validation, and basic and advanced chromatography data management.

"Waters ACQUITY UPLC System is highly-regarded throughout the pharmaceutical industry for being reliable and rugged, and it is rapidly becoming the gold standard for quality control analysis," adds Drabble. "We're seeing a growing interest in and demand for training on UPLC instrument qualification and instrument and method validation."

About North Carolina's Growing Biopharmaceutical Industry

North Carolina has the third largest biotechnology industry in the United States with more than 525 bioscience companies, contract research organizations, and device and life science-related companies employing more than 58,000 workers from bioprocess technicians to PhDs. Among the state's largest biotech and pharmaceutical firms are GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Bayer, Biogen IDEC, Diosynth, Novo Nordisk, Talecris, Wyeth and Baxter. Over the last 10 years the state has directed $1.2 billion toward university research and facilities, worker training, incentives, and infrastructure, leading all other states in bioscience industry growth.

About the ACQUITY UPLC System (www.waters.com/uplc)

Waters ACQUITY UltraPerformance LC (UPLC®) System is an essential component of world's life science companies for all stages of the discovery, development and manufacture of all forms of drugs. Liquid chromatography is a vital and indispensable tool for companies like Apotex Inc. (www.apotex.com), the largest Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company, for final release testing on various dosage forms of drugs for stability, purity, and potency under rules and regulations for testing set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies. Pharmaceutical industry workers are among the highest trained in any industry and are required to periodically renew their certification status.

About NC BioNetwork (www.ncbionetwork.org)

BioNetwork supports the mission of the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) aligning world class workforce training and education to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life science industries.

BioNetwork trains at all levels of this industry, upgrading the skills of incumbent workers, from entry level to management. Its seven centers, strategically and geographically positioned, develop short and curriculum designed courses to meet the needs of industry. The centers are staffed with highly skilled, industry trained experts that are constantly developing workforce training programs that can be delivered anywhere in North Carolina.

About Waters Corporation (www.waters.com)

Waters Corporation creates business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety and water quality worldwide.

Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform for customer success.

With revenue of $1.58 billion in 2008 and 5,000 employees, Waters is driving scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.

Waters, ACQUITY, ACQUITY UPLC, UPLC and UltraPerformance LC are trademarks of Waters Corporation.

SOURCE Waters Corporation

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