Millipore and Gen-Probe have formed an alliance to develop, manufacture and commercialize on an exclusive basis nucleic acid testing (NAT) products for rapid microbiological and virus monitoring in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Microbiological monitoring of manufacturing processes is critical to ensuring patient safety and meeting regulatory requirements.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gen-Probe will be primarily responsible for assay development and manufacturing, while Millipore will manage worldwide commercialization. The companies expect to launch the first of a series of new rapid biological testing products in 2007.

According to a company release, Millipore's sample preparation technology can isolate a single microorganism from large volumes of fluid. Gen-Probe's NAT technology can amplify and detect minuscule quantities of microorganism-specific RNA in hours or less. The companies believe that the combination of both technologies is ideal for rapid molecular-based microbiological testing in biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Martin Madaus, Millipore's chairman, CEO and president, said: "The combination of Gen-Probe's proprietary nucleic acid amplification and detection technologies with our technologies and expertise in microbial process monitoring applications will allow us to create the next generation of process monitoring tools. These new products will enable our customers to reduce the time-to-result of biological testing from days or weeks to hours and thus greatly improve production efficiency."

Gen-Probe Incorporated is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests used to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood.