Announcement: a new Partnership Between TEXCELL and CELL TRENDS

PARIS and MIDDLETOWN, Maryland, November 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- TEXCELL, a world-class French CRO based near Paris since 1987, provides a broad range of viral safety and immunology services in full compliance with GLP and GMP standards. CELL TRENDS, a US contract-research company located in Maryland since 1991, specializes in cell culture and GLP-compliant viral clearance testing services. Both companies announced entry into a strategic partnership to create a global solution that provides important biotherapeutic safety testing services to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. As a direct result of this new partnership, both companies now will be able to offer the same broad range of services to benefit all customers in the USA, Europe, and Asia. TEXCELL and CELL TRENDS currently have annual revenues in excess of 8-9M$ in virology services and cell culture services, along with a staff of more than 50 people.

Expansion and development of new capabilities in both companies will be an immediate result of this new partnership. "TEXCELL is currently expanding its BSL-2 (Biosafety Level 2) viral clearance laboratories to offer more space to the customers located in Europe and ASIA. The partnership with CELL TRENDS provides a strong opportunity to develop new business relationships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies on both sides of the Atlantic ocean," said Bernard Plichon, President and CEO of TEXCELL.

In the US, CELL TRENDS will change its name to TEXCELL-NA. Jeff Schubert will remain as President of TEXCELL-NA to manage all services conducted in North America. According to Jeff Schubert, "TEXCELL-NA will benefit immediately from this strategic partnership by allowing rapid expansion of our viral safety testing services to US customers while supplementing our existing expertise in the cell culture area." Nicolas Dumey, Vice President of Viral Safety at TEXCELL, also indicates that "new laboratory suites for virology testing will be designed in the Maryland facility to allow additional space for our customers to utilize important new technologies."

Jeff Schubert and Bernard Plichon will work together on this strategic partnership to capitalize on the synergistic knowledge and competencies in both organizations.

About TEXCELL

TEXCELL, a spin-off company of the Pasteur Institute, is based in Evry Genopole in more than 16,000 sq. ft of offices and BSL2/BSL3 laboratory facilities. TEXCELL offers GLP/GMP compliant services for viral safety, mycoplasma testing, and bioanalysis (TK/PK, immunogenicity, biomarkers, potency).

About CELL TRENDS

Established in 1991, CELL TRENDS has provided the research community with a broad range of contract laboratory services. Using tissue culture and virology-based techniques, the GLP-compliant CELL TRENDS organization has developed a reputation for delivering high-quality work, competitive prices, and responsive interactions with its clients.

For further details, please contact Jeff Schubert at +1-800-633-5445 or Bernard Plichon at +33-1-60-91-33-10.

    TEXCELL
    Genavenir 5
    1 rue Pierre Fontaine
    91000 EVRY FRANCE
    T: +33-1-60-91-33-10
    [email protected]
    http://www.texcell.fr

    CELL TRENDS
    PO Box 790
    6 N Church Street
    Middletown, MD 21769
    T : +1-800-633-5445
    [email protected]
    http://www.celltrends.com

SOURCE TEXCELL