DNASTAR Expands Software Distribution Network through Agreement with BGI LifeTech Ltd in China


MADISON, Wisconsin March 10, 2008 DNASTAR, a leading bioinformatics software company, today announced that it has signed a software distribution agreement with BGI LifeTech, Beijing, PR China. Under terms of the Agreement, BGI LifeTech will have rights to sell DNASTARs Lasergene, ArrayStar, SeqMan Genome Assembler and GenVision in the Peoples Republic of China and Hong Kong.

DNASTARs software is used by molecular biologists in the areas of sequence analysis, microarray gene expression analysis and genomic visualizations. It has recently introduced the first desktop software that can be used for assembly and analysis of multiple Next Generation sequence platforms.

BGI LifeTech Ltd is a sequencing service provider and molecular biology products distributor throughout China and Hong Kong. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the prestigious Beijing Genomics Institute, was founded in 2002 by Dr Huanming Yang and three colleagues.

Bob Steinhauser, DNASTARs Director of Sales Marketing, China is an emerging biotechnology powerhouse. To position ourselves to be part of that, we need a strong distribution partner that knows the sequencing and microarray market there and at the same time understands the many issues related to software and the service business. BGI LifeTech Ltds business model, their affiliation with the Genomics Institute and their strong interest to expand their commercial business make them a good distribution candidate for our software. We believe that the local market knowledge BGI LifeTech Ltd will bring in DNA sequencing and gene expression, along with our growing product line, will be very beneficial to each of us.

About BGI LifeTech Ltd
In the spring of 1999 Dr Huanming Yang and three colleagues who had worked in USA, set up the Beijing Genomics Institute as a private, nonprofit research organization. As one of the core centers of the International Human Genome Project, the Institute has taken part in the International HapMap Project and contributed to genome sequencing and analysis of several important species, such as rice, silkworm, chicken, pig etc.

BGI LifeTech ,which was founded in 2002 is a wholly-owned subsidiary to the Beijing Genomics Institute （BGI）. BGI LifeTech is a genomic service company and molecular biology products distributor specializing in comprehensive, high-quality and fast turn-around time molecular biology services.

About DNASTAR
DNASTAR, Madison, Wisconsin, (www.DNASTAR.com) has been a pioneer in the development and sales of bioinformatics software used to increase researchers productivity for more than 24 years. Currently, DNASTAR produces Lasergene, a sequence analysis software suite; SeqMan Genome Assembler, a desktop computer assembly tool that can be used with Roche 454, and Illumina Next Generation Sequencing platforms along with the Sanger platform, GenVision, a data visualization software application; and ArrayStar, a microarray gene expression visualization and analysis software tool.

Contact:
Robert Steinhauser
Marketing Director
DNASTAR
3801 Regent St
Madison, WI 53705
Telephone: 608-237-3066
Toll Free: 866-511-5090
Fax: 608-258-7439
steinhauserb@dnastar.com