Asahi Kasei Medical Equipment Operations to be Integrated TechniKrom’s Biopharmaceutical

GLENVIEW, Ill., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ — TechniKrom, Inc. and Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd., who have a longstanding partnership in the commercialization of equipment for use with Planova(TM) virus removal filters, have reached agreement for the transfer of TechniKrom’s biopharmaceutical business to Asahi Kasei Medical’s full ownership. The integration of operations will be marked by the formation of Asahi Kasei TechniKrom, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Medical, on March 1, 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The combination unites two market leaders in innovation: TechniKrom in the design, manufacture, and validation of custom biopharmaceutical processing equipment, and Asahi Kasei Medical in hollow-fiber and membrane adsorption technology. The unified product portfolio will further allow TechniKrom to advance its goal of contributing to human well-being by providing the biopharmaceutical industry with an expanded, integrated toolset to both lower the cost of drug manufacturing and achieve the highest innate drug product quality. “In addition to our existing products and services that we will continue to offer, we are extremely excited about the lineup of novel bioprocess separations products that Asahi Kasei TechniKrom will introduce over the coming months,” said TechniKrom President and founder, Lou Bellafiore.

Asahi Kasei Medical’s current business in the bioprocess field is centered on Planova(TM) filters and filtration systems for virus removal in the production of biopharmaceuticals. “The product line synergies with TechniKrom are a natural fit. This integration allows us to more seamlessly advance the worldwide expansion of our bioprocess operations with a base for the development, production, and sale of equipment and systems in the US, the world’s leading biopharmaceuticals market,” said Yasuyuki Yoshida, President of Asahi Kasei Medical.

Asahi Kasei TechniKrom will be headed by the current TechniKrom management team and will continue to operate from TechniKrom’s Glenview, IL facility.

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