Facility will allow the adoption of company’s tools and applications in the region and drive government partnerships.
Applied Biosystems officially opened its Asia Pacific Application Support Center in Shanghai, China. The company says it expects the Center to drive China’s life sciences industry by providing a facility where researchers will have access to one of the region’s most comprehensive displays of life science tools under one roof.
“We are extremely pleased to be opening our Asia Pacific Application Support Center in China, one of the world’s most vibrant and growing markets,” says Tony L. White, chairman, president, and CEO of Applera, Applied Biosystems’ parent company.
The company says that its Application Support Center is an important strategic initiative that is expected to help increase the adoption of the company’s technologies throughout the region. It will serve customers in China—one of the company’s fastest-growing markets—in addition to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South East Asia. “Not only should we be able to better serve our customers in Asia Pacific and China, we should also be able to enhance collaboration on government initiatives such as our association with China’s Ministry of Public Security for the health and welfare of the Chinese community.”
Applied Biosystems currently has a number of collaborations in China, including with the China Inspection and Quarantine Bureau for food safety, the Ministry of Public Security to establish China’s first forensic database, the Beijing Proteomic Research Center, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control, Ministry of Health to aid in SARS detection.
The 5,400-sq-ft facility houses five demonstration laboratories. The key applications span the life science continuum, including pharmaceutical and biotech research, healthcare and clinical research, forensic analysis, and environmental and food safety testing. The Center will provide the company’s complete portfolio of instrument systems in a functional setting. Its main functions include sample analysis, instrument and workflow demonstrations for specific applications in life sciences and applied markets, comprehensive training programs, region-specific applications development, and on-site and remote customer support. Applied Biosystems also intends to make the new facility available for scientific collaborations with research leaders in a variety of life sciences disciplines.
