BioReliance Opens New U.S. Clearance Services Laboratories; Completes Global Facility Upgrade Plan

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich^® Corporation's (NASDAQ: SIAL) BioReliance^® (www.bioreliance.com), the biologics and early-development services business under SAFC (www.sigmaaldrich.com/safc), has opened a new Clearance Services facility in Rockville, MD. This world-class facility, commissioned on August 1, 2013, allows BioReliance to offer increased capacity and flexible scheduling while maintaining its core focus on providing industry-leading quality, expertise and value. The new U.S. facility more than doubles the amount of space available to clients to conduct their critical downstream bioprocessing studies.

Designed with input from clients and built to complement BioReliance's global viral clearance services capabilities, the Rockville facility features four large clearance suites with modular layouts that allow for customized laboratory setups. All studies performed at the facility are completely secure and supported by dedicated scientists and state-of-the-art chromatography equipment, such as GE Healthcare's AKTA^® avant. Every project is fully compliant with applicable global guidelines and regulations, including those from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. Completed studies receive a consolidated report that includes comprehensive titration and/or process data. BioReliance has already successfully conducted several client studies and quality audits in the new facility.

"Combining our deep knowledge and proven experience with a global investment in modern facilities and equipment enables BioReliance to offer robust validation packages and proprietary CompleteClearance™ services to our clients. It's all about simplifying the viral clearance process through an unrivaled combination of scientific expertise, client-focused service and decades of experience," said Archie Cullen, president of BioReliance. "Any time a client comes to work with us, they are assured that their study is expertly designed and performed by personnel that have participated in thousands of successful studies in support of clinical and commercial biopharmaceutical products."

Clients using BioReliance's U.S. facility will have access to a wide range of resources, including personalized modular laboratory suites with spacious, technology-enabled lounges, unique "suite-to-lounge" monitoring, and support from industry-leading personnel.

The Rockville Clearance Services facility investment completes BioReliance's upgrade to its global offering designed to deliver a total client solution and experience. The Stirling, Scotland (U.K.), Clearance Services laboratories were completely renovated and expanded in 2011. To learn more about BioReliance's new Clearance Services facilities, or to inquire about services, please visit: http://www.bioreliance.com/global_clearance_facilities.aspx.

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "will behave" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. There can be no guarantee that the products and services in SAFC's product and service offerings will continue to meet the demands of the marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of these products or services will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular, management's expectations regarding these products and services could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent, trademark or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About BioReliance by SAFC: Sigma-Aldrich Corporation acquired BioReliance in January 2012 to provide customers access to a powerful, single-point provider whose products and services span the drug discovery, development and commercialization pipeline. As part of the SAFC business unit, BioReliance is a leading provider of cost-effective contract services, offering more than 1,000 tests or services related to biologics safety testing, specialized toxicology and animal health services. BioReliance has more than 700 employees and has laboratory operations in Rockville, Md. and Scotland. For more information, visit www.bioreliance.com. 

About SAFC: SAFC Commercial, the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, is recognized as a top 10 global specialty chemicals and biologics supplier. As a trusted manufacturer for the life sciences and high-technology industries, SAFC works closely with customers to resolve development challenges and accelerate the product pipeline utilizing its global "Centers of Excellence" and dedicated manufacturing facilities. Its rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high-technology applications, critical raw materials and extensive biologics safety testing services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and complex, high-potent APIs and key intermediates for pharmaceutical manufacturing. For more information, visit www.sigmaaldrich.com/safc.                                                                                                                             

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich, a leading life sciences and high-technology company focused on enhancing human health and safety, manufactures and distributes more than 200,000 chemicals, biochemicals and other essential products to more than 1.4 million customers globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and commercial markets. With three distinct business units – Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial – Sigma-Aldrich is committed to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The company operates in 38 countries, has more than 9,000 employees worldwide and had sales of $2.6 billion in 2012. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit www.sigmaaldrich.com.

©2013 Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC. All rights reserved. SAFC and BioReliance are trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC or its affiliates, registered in the U.S. and other countries. AKTA is a registered trademark of GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences AB.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich