BEVERLY, Mass.–Hamilton Thorne, Inc. (HT) and Thorlabs, Inc. announced today they have signed an OEM Supply Agreement, which provides HT with OEM and distribution rights for a new confocal imaging system currently under development at Thorlabs. The agreement grants HT the exclusive rights to sell the confocal product to the regenerative medical research market that Hamilton Thorne serves worldwide.

“The cost of current confocal imaging systems is prohibitive to many labs and discussions with leading scientists revealed a true need for a more cost-effective solution,” says Meg Spencer, CEO and co-founder of HT. “Thanks to this new product, laboratories previously unable to justify the expense now will be able to benefit from confocal imaging and expand the scope of their research.”

Current methods of confocal imaging require the purchase of a complete microscope system. The confocal imaging system being developed by this partnership will allow confocal imaging capability on standard inverted microscopes. More details on the product will be made available to the public during the beta-testing phase.

Alex Cable, President and founder of Thorlabs, stated, “We look forward to working closely with HT on finalizing the design of our confocal imaging system for the scientific and biological disciplines. Their input has been invaluable thus far and has allowed us to proceed with development at a rapid pace. We anticipate having beta units ready for testing by early 2009.”