2008 Life Science Industry Awards Finalists Announced by The Scientist

Finalists have been announced for the 2008 Life Science Industry Awards, which recognize those life science suppliers that are best-in-class in both product categories and customer communications and support categories. The 45 finalists represent the five companies receiving the highest overall scores in each of 20 award categories. The finalists were selected from the more than 500 companies nominated.

In all, almost 4,500 scientists voted between February 15th and March 31st, 2008. These respondents, based on their experiences using scientific products, voted for their favorite suppliers – taking into consideration practical factors such as satisfaction with product features, likelihood to purchase or recommend, the best overall solution, and cost-effectiveness. Winning The Life Science Industry Award has become the benchmark of excellence for companies in the industry.

The Scientist, the magazine of the life sciences, organizes the annual awards along BioInformatics, LLC, the premier market research and advisory firm serving the life science industry. This year’s winners will be announced at the 6th annual Life Science Industry Awards ceremony from 5-8:00pm EDT, June 3, 2008 at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in Boston, MA and held concurrent with the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

The annual awards have become a source of pride for companies in the life science industry. “The equipment and services that these finalists provide are an essential part of the life science community and our readers”, noted Richard Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Scientist. “They should be proud of their achievements, especially because they were chosen by scientists who use their products on a day-to-day basis.”

A full review, including winner profiles will be published in the September issue of The Scientist magazine and online at http://www.the-Scientist.com. Full details of the event, RSVP information, a list of the nominees, survey methodology and past winners can also be found at the official awards site: http://www.LifeScienceIndustryAwards.com.

BioInformatics, LLC collected and tabulated the votes for the awards. “The Life Science Industry Awards continue to enjoy a special prestige because they are conferred by the international life science community,” said Bill Kelly, President. The Life Science Executive Exchange and The Science Advisory Board also added support by including their members in the survey.

THE FINALIST COMPANIES FOR 2008 ARE:

Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) – Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) – Alpha Innotech (OTCBB: APNO.OB) – Ambion (a division of Applied Biosystems, NYSE: ABI) – Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) – Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI) – BD Biosciences (a part of Becton, Dickinson and Co., NYSE:BDX) – Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC) – Bio-Rad (AMEX: BIO) – Bruker Daltonics (an operating company of Bruker BioSciences, NASDAQ: BRKR) – Calbiochem (a brand of EMD Chemicals Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA) – Carl Zeiss – Corning Life Sciences (a division of Corning, Inc., NYSE: GLW) – Dako – Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) – Eppendorf – GE Healthcare (a division of General Electric, NYSE: GE) – Guava Technologies – HP/Compaq (NYSE: HPQ) – Lenovo – Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) — Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) – Kodak Molecular Imaging (now Carestream Health, a subsidiary of Onex Corp.) – Leica Microsystems – Lonza – Molecular Devices (a division of MDS, NYSE: MDZ) – New England Biolabs – Nikon – Olympus – PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences (NYSE: PKI) – Promega – Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN) – R&D Systems (division of TECHNE Corp., NASDAQ: TECH) – Roche Applied Science (a division of Roche Holdings) – Santa Cruz Biotechnology – Sigma-Aldrich (divisions that are also finalists: SAFC Biosciences - NASDAQ: SIAL) – Tecan – Thermo Fisher Scientific (divisions that are also finalists: Pierce Biotechnology, Hyclone, Dharmacon, Nalge Nunc, Fisher Scientific - NYSE: TMO) — VWR International

2008 AWARD CATEGORIES:

Cell Biology Instruments – Cell Biology Kits and Reagents – Cell Culture Media and Reagents – Computer Hardware – Gene Expression Analysis Products – High Throughput Screening and Analysis Systems – Image Analysis Systems – Instrumentation for Genomic Analysis – Instrumentation for Protein Analysis – Laboratory Plasticware – Nucleic Acid Purification Products – Protein Separation Products – RNAi Products – Most Useful Print Catalog – Most Responsive Customer Service – Most Knowledgeable Technical Support – Most Useful Web Site – Most Supportive Sales Representatives – Most Memorable Print Advertisements

ABOUT THE SCIENTIST

The Scientist, the magazine of the life sciences, has informed global life science professionals for over 20 years. We provide our print and online magazine readers with coverage of the latest developments in the life sciences including trends in research, new technology, news, business and careers. We reach the leading researchers and executive management in academia and industry who are interested in maintaining a broad view of the life sciences by reading insightful articles that are current, concise and entertaining. For more information about The Scientist, visit http://www.the-scientist.com.

ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC

BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com) is a market research and advisory firm that supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting.

ABOUT THE LIFE SCIENCE EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE

The Life Science Executive Exchange (http://www.lifescienceexec.com) is an online community that enables professionals to stay in touch with what's happening in the life science "tools" and technology marketplace today.

ABOUT THE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD

The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net) is the world's largest market research panel of scientific customers. The online community is divided into Research and Clinical panels and consists of more than 32,000 life scientists from 62 countries.