Invitrogen Acquires Fluo 3 and Fluo 4 Product Lines from TEF Labs

Invitrogen Corporation has announced it has completed an asset purchase of fluo 3 and fluo 4 product lines and all related intellectual property from TEF Labs Inc.

As a result of the transaction, Invitrogen's Molecular Probes business will assume the manufacture and sale of fluo 3 and fluo 4 from TEF Labs Inc.

"Consolidating fluo 3 and fluo 4 manufacturing under a single roof will ensure consistent ISO 9000 level quality and batch to batch reproducibility - an essential need for drug discovery scientists," said Augie Sick, Vice President and General Manager of Invitrogen's Cellular Analysis business.

Fluo 3 and fluo 4 are fluorescent indicators which are used to measure the concentration of calcium ions in living cells.

These indicators are the work horses of pharmaceutical companies' high throughput screening labs and are widely used in cell-based assays to determine which drug candidates cause or suppress release of intracellular calcium stores.

Calcium ion measurements currently comprise 1/3 of all ion channel screens and 1/2 of all of G protein receptor (GPCR) screens.

These ions are critical secondary signaling messengers for a wide range of cellular processes.

"This divestment permits us to focus our resources on the development of new products and technologies," said Dr. Akwasi Minta, CEO of TEF Labs.

"Invitrogen is extremely active in the commercial arena and we are excited about the possibilities of partnering with them with regard to new technologies in the future."