Sigma Life Science, the innovative biological products and services brand of Sigma-Aldrich, announced that it has added 2,200 new Prestige Antibodies powered by Atlas Antibodies to its industry-leading portfolio. The development brings Sigma Life Science's total Prestige Antibody portfolio to 8,300, covering 6,900 human protein targets, and further expands the Company's overall monoclonal and polyclonal antibody offering to over 30,000 in total.

Available immediately at
www.wherebiobegins.com/biomolecules/products/prestige-antibodies/,
this new addition to the Sigma Life Science Prestige Antibody portfolio is the fourth wave to be delivered since the Company entered into its exclusive partnership with Atlas Antibodies AB in February 2008. Under the terms of this partnership, both companies share co-exclusive distribution in Europe, while Sigma-Aldrich is the exclusive distributor in the North American, Asia Pacific and Latin American regions.

"Successful biological research depends on high-quality, specialized reagents for use in protein characterization, functional studies and cell-based assays," commented Becki Davis, product manager, Antibodies, Sigma Life Science. "With the expansion of our exclusive offering of Prestige Antibodies - the industry's most highly-validated antibodies - we offer one of the largest, premium quality selections. In addition, Prestige Antibodies are standardized in universal protocols, resulting in efficient, more effective research."

Prestige Antibodies are validated by the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) Program, a genome-wide program with a primary goal of producing a complete localization map of the human proteome which currently contains expression profiles and sub-cellular localization for close to 7,000 proteins. The goal of the Human Protein Atlas is to develop at least one antibody to all 20,265 non-redundant human proteins by 2015. Each antibody is standardized in universal protocols with over 700 immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and Western blot images per antibody and all data is publicly available through the Human Protein Atlas.

"Our partnership with Sigma-Aldrich over the past couple of years has enabled us, through Sigma's strong brand awareness and global distribution network, to successfully target proteomics and cell biology researchers who, in turn, are now benefiting from using Prestige Antibodies," commented Marianne Hansson, co-founder and CEO of Atlas Antibodies AB. "As Sigma continues to grow its market presence, we will continue to add new products to our portfolio and make these available on an ongoing basis through Sigma to the research communities."

"As the leading source for biomolecules to the life sciences and biology markets, our mission is to enhance the understanding of biology for every researcher and facilitate the research work that is rewriting the rules of science and medicine," added Dr. David Smoller, president of Sigma-Aldrich's Research Biotech business unit. "Extending our offering of high-quality, highly validated Prestige Antibodies further enables proteomics and cell biology researchers worldwide to understand biology and the study of disease. As part of our recently-launched 'Where Bio Begins' initiative, we have created a Biomolecules microsite which provides researchers and biologists with targeted information on biologically-rich products and technologies, including easy access to our entire range of antibodies."

Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology manufacturing.

Atlas Antibodies was founded in 2006 by researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and the Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. Atlas Antibodies will handle the production, marketing and sales of the antibody products developed and validated in the Human Proteome Resource (HPR) Center.