MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, and OSAKA,
Japan, March 18 -- Picoliter Inc. and Hosokawa Micron Group announced today that they have entered
into an agreement whereby Hosokawa Micron will explore development and
commercialization of the PicoliterTM proprietary fluidics technology
for pharmaceutical production. Terms of the agreement include technology
transfer fees to be paid by Hosokawa for the initial R&D stage of the
relationship, and license fees and royalties to be paid by Hosokawa for future
products and technology commercialized by Hosokawa. In return, Hosokawa will gain access to
PicoliterTM technology for pharmaceutical preparation applications as
identified, protected and developed by Hosokawa.
Picoliter will transfer specific
technology and know-how to Hosokawa, and will provide on-going technical support
to assist Hosokawa in the development of products for the target applications.
Hosokawa will leverage its engineering capability and extensive industry
contacts to identify, develop and commercialize products.
``Hosokawa is a highly respected leader
in particle manufacturing equipment, and has a proven record of commercializing
products for high value applications.” said Dr. Elaine J. Heron, Chairman and
CEO of Picoliter Inc., adding, “We are extremely delighted to be working with
the Hosokawa team on the development of our technology for such an important and
valuable field, and will explore opportunities to expand the relationship with
future success''.
``Picoliter Inc. is a prime example of a
young company that understands the value of a partnership with a leading and
established business in an area complementary to its core market. We believe their
technology has a unique set of attributes ideally suited for the specific
applications that our team has identified. We are confident of the
capabilities of their people and look forward to a fruitful venture.” said Mr.
Y. Hosokawa, Co-Chairman of Hosokawa Micron Group.
About Hosokawa Micron
Hosokawa Micron Group, headquartered in Osaka Japan, with global organization of 1920 employees, R&D and production facilities worldwide, is the leading global company in the field of powder technologies to provide a comprehensive range of powder and particle processing technologies, software and process system engineering for a wide range of industries worldwide, and has been making an extensive contribution to the development of powder technological and scientific societies. Its brand names include Alpine, Bepex, Mikro, Vireco-Nauta, Stott, Vitalair, Rietz, and Micron. Hosokawa is also a pioneer for the creation of ultra fine composite material as a new advanced material to electronic, magnetic, imaging, battery, plastics, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. Hosokawa is listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges. For more information on Hosokawa Micron Group, please visit the company's Web site at www.hosokawa.com.
About Picoliter Inc.
Picoliter Inc. is a development stage
company located in Mountain View, CA.
The company is based on a technology for manipulating and moving small
amounts of liquid using ultrasound energy. The PicoliterTM technology
has broad application in the life science tools market to include microarrays,
liquid handling/dispensing equipment, and living cell transfer devices. For more information on Picoliter Inc.,
contact business development at 650-940-4578.
For
Hosokawa Only:
Certain statements in this press release
are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. These may be identified
by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as ``believe,'' ``expect,''
``intend,'' ``anticipate,'' ``should,'' ``planned,'' ``forecast,''
``estimated,'' and ``potential,'' among others. These forward-looking statements
are based on Hosokawa’s current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 provides a ``safe harbor'' for such forward-looking
statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Hosokawa notes
that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ
materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the
operations, performance, development, and results of Hosokawa businesses include
but are not limited to (1) market acceptance of Hosokawa’s products and
services; (2) uncertainties relating to the pace, quality or number of
discoveries of new materials; (3) the dependence on collaborators to
successfully commercialize products; (4) uncertainties of patent protection and
litigation; (5) future growth strategy; (6) general economic conditions in the
United States and in major European and Asian markets; (7) natural disasters,
power failures and other disasters; (8) and other factors that might be
described from time to time in Hosokawa’s filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission or other national securities reporting
agencies.