Pall acquires U.S. biotechnology company

Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL), a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, today announced its acquisition of MicroReactor Technologies, Inc. (MRT), a privately held U.S. biotechnology company. MRT has developed a reliable, easy-to-use and cost-effective miniature bioreactor technology platform.

“We are excited by this acquisition and the increased opportunities it presents for our biotechnology process development and laboratory programs”

The acquisition of MRT, with its patented approach to high throughput miniature bioreactor equipment and disposables, expands Pall's Total Fluid Management^SM (TFM) capabilities in the $1 billion biopharmaceuticals process monitoring and process development market.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Speed to market continues to be a critical driver in the biopharmaceuticals industry. High Throughput Process Development (HTPD) is a rapidly emerging approach that enables biotech drug development activities to be accomplished much faster and with less material. Cell culture optimization, as a starting point for new biotech drug development, can greatly benefit from this approach.

Founded in 2003 in Mountain View, California, MRT quickly gained market recognition for its miniature bioreactor platform that is able to improve cell culture process development through fast and accurate assessment of bioreactor performance. Since its first product arrived on the market in 2006, MRT has developed HTPD systems that control, monitor and record key process parameters for multiple individual cell culture experiments in one test sequence.

These systems are proven to simulate the performance of stirred tank bioreactors in both cell culture and microbial fermentation from bench scale (1 to 20L) to much larger scale (up to 200,000L). The disposable bioreactor cassette has 24 individual bioreactors, each of which can be independently controlled and monitored for key parameters, including pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature.

"We are excited by this acquisition and the increased opportunities it presents for our biotechnology process development and laboratory programs," said Eric Krasnoff, Pall Corporation Chairman and CEO. "Customers seek better tools for rapid process development and process monitoring. The addition of MRT further broadens Pall Life Sciences support of customers in this rapidly growing market. We welcome the newest members of the Pall family."

"It is exciting to join Pall and support the rapid growth in our business. More importantly, it enables our customers to exploit on a wider scale, the very significant advantages that the Micro-24 bioreactor technology is bringing to the industry," said Stephen Boyer, President of MRT.