SAN DIEGO and VIENNA, October 27 /PRNewswire/ -- eBioscience Corporation today announced that it has acquired privately held immunoassay technology pioneer Bender MedSystems GmbH in an all cash transaction. The acquisition will provide eBioscience with over 1,000 high profile immunology and oncology products including the Instant ELISA(R) and FlowCytomix(TM) brands that target the life sciences and diagnostics markets.

Bender MedSystems provides us with a cutting-edge technology platform that, when combined with many of eBioscience's leading cell analysis research and diagnostic products, will facilitate the accelerated development and commercialization of breakthrough innovations, explained eBioscience CEO, Todd R. Nelson Ph.D. Bender MedSystems proprietary Instant ELISA(R) technology and associated product lines confer several major competitive advantages over existing technologies including increased sensitivity, significantly simplified handling and reduced analysis time, added Michael Schaude Ph.D., CEO of Bender MedSystems.

Bender MedSystems' novel bead based multiplexing technology and products, marketed and sold under the FlowCytomix(TM) brand, allow researchers to analyze simultaneously up to 20 proteins in a single reaction. This highly scalable technology platform can be combined with many of eBioscience's existing technologies that the company intends to use in the development of a significant number of expanded sets of cell analysis product lines.

The FlowCytomix(TM) reagents are designed to run on existing flow cytometry instruments, allowing eBioscience to take full advantage of our current commercial channel without having to invest into an instrument platform. Accordingly, the technology represents an exceptional opportunity for us to increase our presence within the multiplexing segment of the immunoassay market, Dr. Nelson commented.

The Bender MedSystems' acquisition builds on eBioscience's recent expansion in Europe and is complementary to the company's NatuTec operations in Germany. In addition to providing eBioscience with a first class center of excellence for the development of immunoassays in Europe, the company will now have manufacturing, enhanced customer service, technical support and increased regional distribution capabilities. Bender MedSystems will serve as eBioscience's European headquarters and will greatly enhance the ability to get products to customers more rapidly and reliably, added Dr. Nelson.

Bender MedSystems has built an impressive business over the past 11 years and has amassed a quality brand, several highly scalable enabling technologies and value-added product lines and it will be a pleasure to add them to the eBioscience family of companies, Nelson commented.

About eBioscience:

Founded in 1999, eBioscience, a privately held company, is headquartered in San Diego, California and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world.

eBioscience provides more than 10,000 innovative high quality cell analysis reagents to academic and government researchers and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide that empower the process of scientific discovery and diagnosing disease in the areas of immunology and oncology.

For more information about eBioscience, visit the company's web site at www.eBioscience.com or email corpcom@ebioscience.com.

About Bender MedSystems:

Founded in 1998, Bender MedSystems, a privately held company, is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

The company provides the world-wide biomedical market with more than 1,000 immunological research reagents and research diagnostics comprising monoclonal antibodies, enzyme-immunoassays (ELISA), fluorescent bead immunoassays, FlowCytomix(TM) and the proprietary technology Instant ELISA(R) as well as recombinant proteins for applications in academic, industrial and clinical research in the fields of adhesion molecules, cytokines and receptors, tumour biology and apoptosis.

For more information about Bender MedSystems, visit the company's web site at www.bendermedsystems.com.

SOURCE: eBioscience Corporation

CONTACT: Jimmy Glynn of eBioscience Corporation, +1-858-784-5076,james.glynn@ebioscience.com