Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), an international leading pharma and biotech supplier, and RAUMEDIC, a leading worldwide OEM manufacturer of medical- and pharmaceutical-grade polymer components and systems, announced the signing of a global partnership agreement. This covers arrangements concerning the mutual development of innovative fluid systems and marketing of single-use tubing, which RAUMEDIC produces for and will supply to Sartorius Stedim Biotech on a long-term basis. Sartorius Stedim Biotech will be combining its designing, manufacturing and validation expertise in single-use systems for biopharmaceutical applications with RAUMEDIC proficiency in the development and manufacture of tubing for medical and biopharmaceutical use. The alliance will provide innovative, high-quality and reliable fluid handling systems to biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Through this strategic partnership with RAUMEDIC, Sartorius Stedim Biotech will substantially expand its product and service portfolio in the area of liquid transfer technologies.

The companies will strengthen and develop their existing long-term collaboration and merge their expertise for generating new tubing technologies and validation standards. With a new product line, TuFlux, which will soon be launched, Sartorius Stedim Biotech will supply its customers with highly validated polymer and silicone tubing on single-use assemblies as well as stand-alone tubing coils, along with comprehensive validation packages. According to the agreement, Sartorius Stedim Biotech will offer its products backed by RAUMEDIC's support and assistance in order to develop customized solutions and to provide stronger validation and technical support as well as process improvements.

Jean-Marc Cappia, Vice President of Fluid Management Technologies of Sartorius Stedim Biotech, acknowledges the agreement as an important milestone in expanding SSB's product portfolio. "More than ever, we offer the full capabilities of single-use technologies. For our customers of the biopharmaceutical industry, this partnership will yield a powerful combination of single-use bags, filters, connectors, sensors and tubing systems and services. Our long-term expertise in characterizing extractables in filters and bags will benefit our tubing technology and hence we will be offering more comprehensive validation packages for our single-use solutions," he explained.

RAUMEDIC is bringing to Sartorius Stedim Biotech more than 60 years of technical expertise and manufacturing excellence in the area of polymer-based systems and components for medical and pharmaceutical applications. The company is renown in material development, compounding of raw materials, and extrusion technologies of all kinds for polymer and elastomer tubing.

Martin Bayer, CEO of RAUMEDIC, explained the benefits for the biopharmaceutical customers. "This alliance will provide integrated, single-use systems to the global biopharmaceutical industry, which have been developed and harmonized by two strong partners in this area," he said.

This press release contains statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. We cannot guarantee that the content of these statements will actually apply because these statements are based upon assumptions and estimates that harbour certain risks and uncertainties.

About Sartorius Stedim Biotech
Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading provider of cutting-edge equipment and services for the development, quality assurance and production processes of the biopharmaceutical industry. Its integrated solutions covering fermentation, filtration, purification, fluid management and lab technologies are supporting the biopharmaceutical industry around the world to develop and produce drugs safely, timely and economically. Sartorius Stedim Biotech focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Strongly rooted in the scientific community and closely allied with customers and technology partners, the company is dedicated to its philosophy of "turning science into solutions".

Headquartered in Aubagne , France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech enjoys a worldwide presence. Its key manufacturing and R&D site is in Germany . The company employs nearly 2,600 people, and in 2010 earned sales revenue of 432.9 million euros.

About RAUMEDIC
RAUMEDIC, member of the REHAU group, is a leading development partner and system supplier for the medical and pharmaceutical industry with particular expertise in extrusion, injection moulding and assembly. RAUMEDIC provides its customers with innovative and high-quality products made using all thermoplastic polymers as well as silicone for a wide range of medical and pharmaceutical applications. RAUMEDIC offers a one-stop development and manufacturing program for medical tubing, injection moulding and assembly.

RAUMEDIC's expertise in material science, design, prototyping, tool making, engineering, R&D and Regulatory Affairs means successful development from customer concept to full CE marked products. Customer satisfaction and adherence to all relevant legal and official requirements are at the centre of the company's approach to quality. The basis for this is given with clean-room production according to ISO 14644 class 7 and a quality management system certified to ISO 13485.