Roche, RiNA GmbH, Berlin, and 5 PRIME GmbH, Hamburg agreed that effective September 15, 2009 the complete RTS Protein Expression portfolio of Roche Applied Science will be transferred to RiNA GmbH and 5 PRIME GmbH.

RiNA will contribute its longstanding experience in the field of cell-free expression systems and continue production at the same quality standards defined by ROCHE.

5 PRIME will be responsible for sales, support, and distribution of the RTS portfolio worldwide and adds an enthusiastic, fast growing global team of support, direct sales, and distributors. Both partners are committed to maintain unchanged quality and price of the RTS products.

“Divesting the RTS business is a logical consequence out of our strategy to focus on our functional genomics and cellomics platforms”, states Manfred Baier, Head of Roche Applied Science.

Quote Leo W. Tristram, CEO of RiNA GmbH: “The RTS cell-free expression kits ideally complement the RiNA product portfolio and its dedicated specific customer service for cell-free biosynthesis. Together with 5 PRIME products for purification and detection of recombinant proteins the RTS technology will form a strong basis for joint development of innovative products in this dynamic field.”

“This deal enables us to address the attractive market for cell-free protein expression with a well established product line” agrees Bernd Haase, CEO of 5 PRIME: “the RTS products are renowned to overcome a key bottleneck in functional proteomics – limited access to pure proteins. RTS kits with their unique technology enable high protein yields and will form a cornerstone of 5 PRIME’s proteomics offering”.

RiNA was founded as a spin-off from the Institute of Biochemistry (Prof. Dr. Volker A. Erdmann), Free University of Berlin. RiNA successfully provided major Research & Development in the field of prokaryotic and eukaryotic protein expression systems.

For many years RiNA was closely cooperating with Roche and was involved with the development of the RTS technology at its onset and has since built a solid reputation for high quality protein biosynthesis tools.

5 PRIME was founded in 2006 in Hamburg. 5 PRIME’s goal is to make daily lab work easier and more productive by providing scientists worldwide with reliable high quality kits for molecular biology applications at attractive prices. 5 PRIME is represented in 50 countries, offering more than 220 products that span the complete workflow from nucleic acid purification and amplification to protein expression and purification which will be complemented by the RTS portfolio.

Please visit www.5PRIME.com/rts.aspx for more information.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.