Press Releases

Bridge Laboratories Purchases Provantis Solution for New GLP Laboratory in China

June 9, 2006 - Conshohocken, PA

Instem's Provantis Solution Chosen by Bridge After Rigorous Vendor Evaluation; Bridge Signs Multi-year License for Core Provantis Solution Suite.

Instem, a premier global information solutions provider, announced today that Bridge Laboratories (Bridge), an international contract research organization, has chosen to deploy the Provantis system in their newly constructed state-of-the-art preclinical testing laboratory in Beijing.

Bridge has recently completed building one of the largest and most advanced vivariums in China. The building is undertaking US level GLP compliant preclinical development of pharmaceutical and biotech drugs for western clients. Bridge began evaluating systems in early 2005 for their first facility, which is located in Beijing's Zhongguancun Life Science Park. Using an integrated Toxicology-Pathology solution, this facility would be the first in China to meet and exceed U.S. regulatory standards for lab practices and preclinical safety testing.

"After having narrowed our technology selection to just two vendors, we took a closer look not only at the systems, but also at the organizations behind them," commented the EVP and CTO of Bridge. "We understand now why Instem has more users than all of the other vendors combined. Their system is superior in design and functionality, while their passion to meet client objectives as a partner is frankly, refreshing."

Bridge is planning to dramatically lower research costs for western biopharmaceutical companies, while delivering high quality study data that can be submitted to any regulatory agency in the world, such as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

"Being chosen after a comprehensive competitive evaluation really says it all," commented Gregor Grant, VP of Business Development at Instem. "Important to Bridge is that our team is attentive to their needs and that we delivered a rapid deployment plan that is clear, concise and cost effective. Although it takes time and effort, we encourage organizations to compare us and our system to other players in the market, before they make their final decision."

Instem's entrance into China marks their second major geographic market expansion this year. In March, through CTC Laboratory Systems, Instem announced it had launched Provantis into the Japanese Life Sciences R&D market.

Provantis is a modern, fully integrated Windows-based system for organizations and universities engaged in non-clinical evaluation studies. From single-user Pathologists to full-function global Toxicology/Pathology laboratories, Provantis streamlines processes and workflows with straightforward, intuitive functionality for simple and complex studies within a GLP or non-GLP environment.

Instem invests millions of dollars each year into its products and processes, protecting client investments and ensuring their systems are exceeding the demands of the markets they serve. Provantis is offered through traditional on-site deployment as well as Instem's hosted application model, which is designed, priced and professionally managed for smaller laboratories or for clients wanting to reduce IT complexities.

Instem's customer base consists of the leading pharmaceutical, chemical and contract research organizations, including government and privately funded programs across sites worldwide.

About Instem

Instem is a world-leading information solutions provider for the Life Sciences - accelerating drug and chemical development by increasing client productivity and enhancing the processes that lead to safer, more effective products.

Established in 1969, Instem has offices in the United States and Europe with its solutions supported in thirteen countries. Instem serves large multi-national corporations and smaller organizations in overcoming the challenges of managing information and provides solutions that help them further their missions while creating a competitive advantage.

For more information on Instem and its solutions, please visit www.instem-lss.com or contact them by email at info@instem-lss.com.

About Pharmaron

Founded in 2003, Pharmaron is a leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug R&D CRO, with operations in China and the United States. Clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and government organizations. As a research-driven and customer-focused company, Pharmaron provides a broad, integrated portfolio of laboratory and manufacturing services from drug discovery to IND submission. These services are designed to help its global partners improve the success of research and shorten the time of development cost effectively in discovering and developing drugs. For more information about Pharmaron, please visit http://www.pharmaron.com.