Cepheid Announces Distribution Agreement with VWR International

Cepheid has announced an agreement with VWR International to distribute Cepheid Industrial life science products in the United States.

This non-exclusive agreement expands Cepheid's Industrial market reach in the U.S. by extending its domestic sales channel to reach more government, academic and biotechnology laboratories working with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology.

"Cepheid is an industry-leader in providing instruments to enable industrial life science laboratories to leverage real-time PCR easily, effectively and affordably," said VWR Life Sciences Category Manager John A. D'Errico, Ph.D. "Adding Cepheid's products to our current catalog of products ensures our customers have access to the most advanced and proven instruments on the market."

Under the terms of the agreement, VWR will distribute Cepheid's SmartCycler® instrument system, SmartMix® HM master mix, and associated accessories in the U.S.

The SmartCycler® system is a real-time PCR testing platform for genetic analysis and detection. With up to 96 individually programmable reaction sites, it is a flexible real-time thermal cyclers with features designed specifically to deliver improved multiplexing.

"Cepheid's SmartCycler® and SmartMix® products bring state of the art, real-time PCR technology to leading molecular laboratories around the world, giving them the ability to rapidly address even complex multi-target analyses," said Cepheid Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Robert Koska.

"This strategic relationship with a trusted supplier like VWR will help Cepheid expand its growing position in the Industrial and Life Science markets here in the United States," he continued.