(Matthews, North Carolina) February 25, 2009 – CEM Corporation, a leading global provider of microwave laboratory instrumentation, is pleased to announce the start of a collaboration between the Company and EspiKem, SRL, a contract research organization specializing in the syntheses of peptides and other biomolecules and the development of various bioassays. EspiKem will offer specialized training courses focused on microwave-assisted peptide synthesis using CEM’s best-selling Liberty™ Microwave Peptide Synthesizer.

The companies will also be collaborating on several scientific endeavors involving research in proteomic applications, as well as peptide and protein synthesis.

“This is a very exciting project for CEM,” said Michael J. Collins, president and CEO of CEM Corporation. “A great deal of novel research is being done in the areas of peptides and proteomics and microwave-enhanced systems will play a significant role in the emerging work. We foresee major advances coming from these fields in the next several years and we look forward to working with EspiKem to further those advances.”

“We are very proud of this international partnership,” said Anna Maria Papini, PhD, professor at the University of Florence and one of EspiKem’s Founders. “This is an important recognition of the high technological level of the services offered by EspiKem, in collaboration with our academic team.”

EspiKem SRL is located in Florence, Italy and will be offering training to CEM’s European and Asiatic customers.

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About CEM

CEM Corporation, a private company based in Matthews, North Carolina, is a leading provider of microwave laboratory instrumentation. The Company has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France, as well as a global network of distributors. CEM designs and manufactures systems for life sciences, analytical laboratories and processing plants worldwide. The Company’s products are used in many industries including pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical and food processing, as well as academic research.

About EspiKem

Founded in 2003 as a spin-off company of the University of Florence, EspiKem Srl is a Contract Research Organization specializing in the field of design, synthesis, purification, and characterization of peptides and their analogues of biomedical interest. EspiKem operates in tight collaboration with the Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology of the University of Florence (PeptLab), a multidisciplinary technology platform for Peptide Science, strongly active in the study of the molecular mechanisms of autoimmune diseases and development of new biomarkers. EspiKem offers a very wide range of innovative molecules and services including the analysis and synthesis of peptides, proteins and other biomolecules, and custom peptides for researchers at universities and biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies. EspiKem can also assist customers in problem solving to find the optimal solutions, such as: design of peptides, identification of the best sequence, and post-translational modifications to obtain better performances.