ARUP Laboratories celebrates new state-of-the-art diagnostic technology with the VENTANA BenchMark Special Stains system

TUCSON, Ariz., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, announced the unveiling of its new state-of-the-art BenchMark Special Stains system during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at ARUP (Associated Regional and University Pathologists) Laboratories in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Built on its industry-leading VENTANA BenchMark technology, the new BenchMark Special Stains system offers baking through staining automation; random batch access; connectivity to the VANTAGE workflow solution and connectivity to the VENTANA CareGiver (1) remote support system. These features enable full walk away automation, making it an ideal platform for laboratories worldwide.

"I'm looking forward to realizing the full potential of the Ventana BenchMark Special Stainer in our Histology Laboratory. It fully automates the deparaffinization step of our histology procedure, enabling the reassignment of our lab personnel to more value-added tasks," said Ken Metzger, histology supervisor at ARUP Laboratories.

"As a market leader and innovator in anatomic pathology, Ventana is committed to improving the lives of all patients afflicted with cancer," says Adrian Ralph, Ventana Lifecycle Leader, Primary Staining. "By building on our industry-leading VENTANA BenchMark platform technology, we bring to market a new special stains instrument that will empower our customers to deliver the highest standards of patient care through the most innovative diagnostic solutions available globally."

Ventana is the industry leader (2) in the special stains instrument market. With this latest addition to the BenchMark family of instruments, Ventana is introducing a special stains system that dramatically enhances testing efficiency over manual processes, enabling laboratories to consistently deliver exceptional quality, consistency, reliability, and workflow efficiency.  And, as part of maintaining VENTANA world class standards, the platform and reagent kits are designed to maximize both the efficiency as well as the safety of lab personnel.

WATCH this revealing demonstration of manual staining workflow vs. the new BenchMark Special Stains instrument.

(1) VENTANA CareGiver remote support delivers a comprehensive histology remote connectivity solution for VENTANA systems including the BenchMark Special Stains platform, SYMPHONY H&E stainer and BenchMark ULTRA IHC/ISH stainer.

(2) Ventana internal sales and market assessments, 2011

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.
Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's intuitive, integrated staining, workflow management platforms, and digital pathology solutions optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors, support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving Personalized Healthcare through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit www.ventana.com to learn more.
VENTANA, the VENTANA logo,  SYMPHONY and BenchMark are trademarks of Roche.

SOURCE Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.