Techne Announces Partnership Agreement With Fisher Scientific

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) today announced  a three year agreement to distribute Techne's R&D Systems, Tocris, and Boston Biochem brand catalog products through the Fisher Scientific customer channel in the United States and Canada.   Fisher Scientific, the premier customer channel brand within Thermo Fisher Scientific, has a leading position in the life sciences market and represents broad customer reach and a proven record of customer service and support.

As a preferred supplier, Techne will be able to leverage the commercial strength of the Fisher Scientific channel through its large sales force and highly trained life science application specialists.  In addition, Techne will be well positioned to take advantage of the many Fisher Scientific marketing programs including advanced e-commerce solutions and occupy a prominent position in the Fisher Scientific catalog.

Techne will continue to market and provide technical support to their existing customers as well as all new customers introduced through the extensive Fisher Scientific channel.  The partnership will expose Techne's products to a greater number of academic, governmental and industrial customers, including those in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and CRO segments.  It will also expand the range of high-quality proteins, antibodies and immunoassays offered under the Fisher Scientific brand.

About Techne Corporation

Techne Corporation and Subsidiaries (the Company) are engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of biotechnology products and hematology calibrators and controls. These activities are conducted through the Company's two operating subsidiaries: Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (R&D Systems) of Minneapolis, Minnesota and R&D Systems Europe, Ltd. (R&D Europe) of Abingdon, England.

R&D Systems is a specialty manufacturer of biological products. R&D Systems has four subsidiaries: BiosPacific, Inc. (BiosPacific), located in Emeryville, California, Boston Biochem, Inc., located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bionostics Holdings Limited (Bionostics), operating in Devens, Massachusetts, and R&D Systems China Co. Ltd., (R&D China), located in Shanghai, China. BiosPacific is a worldwide supplier of biologics to manufacturers of in vitro diagnostic systems and immunodiagnostic kits. Boston Biochem is a leading developer and manufacturer of ubiquitin-related research products.  Bionostics is a leading supplier of control solutions used in point of care blood glucose and blood gas testing.

R&D China and R&D Europe distribute the Company's biotechnology products. R&D Europe has two subsidiaries: Tocris Holdings Ltd. (Tocris) of Bristol, England and R&D Systems GmbH, a German sales operation. Tocris is a leading supplier of chemical reagents for non-clinical life science research.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements found in this release may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect the speaker's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and include any statement that does not directly relate to a current or historical fact. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate" or "intend" or similar words.  Factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to leverage new distribution channels and the effectiveness of additional marketing opportunities. 

For additional information concerning such factors, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements we make in our press releases due to new information or future events. Investors are cautioned not to place undue emphasis on these statements.

SOURCE Techne Corporation