Sigma-Aldrich(R) Focuses on Biology With Launch of New Life Science Brand Platform

ST. LOUIS, March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sigma-Aldrich® (NASDAQ: SIAL) today unveiled its new Sigma^® Life Science brand and website platform, designed to elevate the Company's current focus on biology and provide a single destination where researchers can access deep biological knowledge and market-leading products and technologies. The introduction of Sigma Life Science's 'Where Bio Begins' brand (www.wherebiobegins.com) brings attention to its biology focus by providing researchers with robust, unique, industry-leading technologies and biologically- focused products to help them explore, study and understand life.

The Sigma Life Science mission is expected to enable researchers to unravel the complex biomolecular interactions within cells, tissues, organs and organisms. The new brand and website are expected to generate awareness of Sigma Life Science's strengths in providing products and technologies that are intended to facilitate scientists' understanding of how diseases develop and how molecules function.

"Our new brand will help us tell our biology story - that Sigma holds what we believe is one of the largest portfolios of biologically rich products and technologies in the industry," said Dr. David Smoller, president of Sigma-Aldrich's Research Biotech business unit. "We have over $750 million worth of products in our portfolio and are fully committed to helping biologists. For over 50 years, life scientists around the world have depended upon our traditional foundation of bioessentials, including biochemicals, amino acids, antibodies, buffers, carbohydrates, enzymes, forensic tools, hematology, histology, nucleotides and cell culture media because of our quality, service and selection. Over the last few years we have built on this strong foundation to develop innovative products and technologies and become a true leader in the life science market."

Sigma Life Science is a leading biomolecule provider with:

• The world's largest custom oligonucleotide service supplying customers around the globe with high quality DNA and RNA and, in many regions, same-day custom DNA synthesis;
• A growing portfolio of more than 25,000 monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies including Prestige Antibodies^® Powered by Atlas Antibodies, the industry's most highly-validated antibodies; and
• The largest number of bioactive small molecules, peptides and proteins for cell biology and neuroscience research including GPCR and ion channel ligands, novel kinase inhibitors and cell cycle regulators, the gold-standard LOPAC™ library of pharmacologically active compounds and key signal transduction enzymes featuring Precisio™ kinases.

Sigma Life Science is also emerging as a leader in innovation with:

• Cutting-edge gene silencing products, MISSION^® siRNAs and the largest set of validated lentivirus based  MISSION® shRNA clones;
• The award-winning CompoZr™ Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN) gene editing technology - the first technology to allow researchers to insert, delete or edit any region of the genome of a living cell or organism;
• SAGE^™ Labs - the first knockout rat program designed to develop novel rodent models of human disease powered by the CompoZr™ ZFN technology; and
• Comprehensive and innovative sets of reagents for regenerative medicine including the Stemgent^™ reprogramming kit to develop induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells leveraging the Sigma Life Science lentivirus delivery expertise; HyStem^™, a fully customizable synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) to optimize stem cell proliferation and differentiation and a complete portfolio of zinc finger nuclease reagents, antibodies, shRNA/siRNAs for stem cell research.

All of these technologies are accessible through the 'Your Favorite Gene powered by Ingenuity' (http://sigma.com/yfg) search engine - the most dynamic, web-based biological search tool that delivers comprehensive gene-based content to model and evaluate experiments in the context of previously published scientific literature.

"Over the past couple of years we have been working very hard in an attempt to gather the most talented people who are passionate about helping life scientists around the world understand the secrets of life and address the main challenges in biology." said Dr. Helge Bastian, Vice President of Sigma-Aldrich's Research Biotech business unit. "These efforts have transformed our life science business into what we believe is an innovation powerhouse that surprises the market with genuine product innovations. Our award-winning, dynamic web-based biological search tool, 'Your Favorite Gene', our Prestige antibody collection, our ground-breaking CompoZr ZFN technology and the novel, ZFN-enabled knockout rat models generated by our SAGE^™ Labs business are proof of the things that researchers can expect from Sigma's Life Science business now and in the future: technologies and products that help advance life science and provide deeper insight into biology leading to better medicines and cures. We are committed more than ever to support life science researchers on their way to new discoveries for a healthier and better life. For researchers, Sigma Life Science is the destination where the new biology begins."

To support the 'Where Bio Begins' launch, eight information portals have been specifically tailored to serve the biology community. Themed around the Company's core biological capabilities in targeted genome editing (bioediting), transgenics (SAGE Labs), functional genomics (biosilencing), stem cell research and epigenetics (bioreprogramming), molecular biology (biomapping), biomolecules, oligonucleotides/custom products (bionucleics), customer education and training programs (biouniversity) and bioinformatic resource (Your Favorite Gene) these sites can be accessed at www.wherebiobegins.com.

The Sigma Life Science blog at http://sigmabioblogs.com serves as a resource for new techniques, improvements to old techniques, exciting applications, and information about scientists from every spectrum of the biological community. We plan to extend our presence via the Where Bio Begins Facebook® Fan page and  Where Bio Begins Twitter account  at http://twitter.com/WhereBioBegins to engage the biology community.  Our existing Social Media presence as SAGE Research Models (http://twitter.com/ResearchModels or the SAGE Research Models Facebook® Fan page), Your Favorite Gene (http://twitter.com/YourFaveGene or the YFG Facebook® Fan ), and CompoZr ZFN Facebook® fan page are intended to communicate with the biocommunity around topics more directly related to using Sigma Life Science tools and techniques.  

Cautionary statement: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "designed to elevate," "is expected to generate," " emerging as a leader in innovation," "most dynamic, web-based biological search tool," or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. 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. There can be no guarantee that Sigma Life Science products will continue to meet the demands of the marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of these products will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding these products 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 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 US 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 Sigma Life Science: Sigma Life Science is a Sigma-Aldrich brand that represents Sigma's   leadership in innovative biological products and services for the global life science market and offers an array of biologically-rich products and reagents that researchers use in scientific investigation. Product areas include biomolecules, genomics and functional genomics, cells and cell-based assays, transgenics, protein assays, stem cell research, epigenetics and custom services/oligonucleotides. Sigma Life Science also provides an extensive range critical bioessentials like biochemicals, antibiotics, buffers, carbohydrates, enzymes, forensic tools, hematology and histology, nucleotides, amino acids and their derivatives, and cell culture media.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 38 countries and has 7,700 employees providing excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Innovation and Leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning website at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.

Sigma-Aldrich, Sigma, Prestige Antibodies, CompoZr, Precisio, MISSION, SAGE and LOPAC are trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Biotechnology L.P. and Sigma-Aldrich Co. Stemgent is a trademark of Stemgent, Inc. Hystem is a trademark of Glycosan BioSystems, Inc. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich