Zymark Corporation is proud to announce that the Twister Universal Microplate Handler is steadily becoming a ?top of mind? component of laboratory automation for sample storage and throughput. Through Zymark?s numerous OEM agreements, direct sales, and partnerships, Twister is providing researchers with the technologies that enable biological discoveries.

Twister is a low cost, bench-top, microplate handler designed to standardize laboratory applications for microplate readers, washers, and liquid handlers. Twister individually moves up to 20 microplates from an input rack to the plate locator on the instrument. An optional loader accommodates up to 60 additional plates. Twister software initiates the scientific instrument's method. After completion, Twister retrieves the plate from the instrument and places it into an output rack. Twister?s software is capable of cycling plates in predetermined intervals to accommodate kinetic applications.

Zymark president and chief executive Kevin Hrusovsky stated, ?One of the reasons the Twister is such a success is its flexibility. It can be interfaced with a wide variety of devices from the industry?s leading instrumentation companies, and thus equips scientists with small bench-top workstations that allow the flexibility to meet changing laboratory needs. It also provides an easy-to-use means of unattended operation that provides the scientist with valuable walk-away time.?

Companies, such as Cartesian Technologies, have chosen to partner Twister with their existing automation, the ProSys? 5510 Production Microarraying System. The ProSys 5510 is a high capacity DNA microarraying workstation used for creating high-density arrays in functional genomics research. The ProSys system is configured with a pin array transfer head, 100-slide nest, and up to 48 micro spotting pins all enclosed in a humidity-controlled environment. Its remarkably precise high-density print heads are capable of printing up to 82,000 spots on a single slide from 96 or 384 well source plates.

David Lorenz, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Cartesian, says, ?We can see the potential integrating Twister has for adding value to the successful ProSys products. The Twister will provide a convenient and easy-to-use means of setting up unattended operation, adding and storing extra plates, allowing de-lidding capabilities, and removing the limiting manual transfer step?

Twister is now utilized by more than 60 different third party devices to increase throughput and walk-away time.

Direct sales of the Twister have been equally impressive. Since 1997 Zymark has sold more than 1,500 Twisters to companies like the Serono Reproductive Biology Institute in Randolph, Mass., who added Twister to maximize their researchers time and efforts. ?The added flexibility allows for walk away automation of complex liquid handling procedures without sacrificing sensitivity for simplicity in the assay format,? says Jeffrey Messer, manager of High Throughput Screening/Compound Control at Serono. ?The result is not just more hits, but better hits going into development.?

Serono also utilizes Zymark?s Presto? Sealer Workstation, and two SciClone? Liquid Handling Workstations in their core therapeutic area of reproductive health.

During the past 12 months Zymark made four OEM agreements with such companies as Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ:CALP) that agree to become a volume user and distributor of Twister. The Twister is a key component of Caliper?s LabChip High Throughput Screening systems. The Twister automates compound delivery in the Caliper system, serving as an autoloader for the LabChip(R) instrumentation.

Dan Kisner, president and chief executive, says, ?Our OEM relationship with Zymark will help us to meet the increasing demand for LabChip(R) microfluidic systems and add value to our products. The Twister is a key component of our high throughput systems. We look forward to working with Zymark to enhance the performance of our systems and to ensure that our customers enjoy the advantages of managing their high throughput screening needs in a high quality lab-on-a-chip environment.?

Zymark Corporation supplies laboratory automation for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications. The company employs approximately 365 people in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan, and has authorized sales and service organizations in more than 34 countries throughout the rest of the world. Zymark Corporation advances the ability to discover, develop and market safe and effective drugs that can lengthen and improve the quality of life for everyone.

For additional information contact:
Tom Maltais
Marketing Communications
(508) 497-6541
Tom.Maltais@zymark.com