Gradipore touts US growth after gel range expansion

Sydney-based company Gradipore is predicting increased sales in its main US market after launching a new range of electrophoresis gels.

The new products include MicroGels, designed for high-speed electrophoretic separations, LongLifeTris-Tricene gels, for separation of peptides and small molecules, and an expanded range of the company's LongLife electrophoresis precast gradient gel products.

Gradipore began manufacturing electrophoresis gels in 1986. The company's US-based CEO, Robert Lieb, said Gradipore's gels were well-regarded by the market, but sales had been restricted because the company did not have a full product range.

"That has now changed," he said in a statement. "Gradipore now produces a comprehensive range of 45 superior gel products, which better positions us to appeal to a larger base of potential customers."

While its local market is small, Gradipore said it is the number three supplier of electrophoresis gels in the US, for which the total worldwide market is about $US255 million a year. The new gels gave Gradipore an edge for the number two spot, according to the company.

"With a superior product and aggressive pricing we feel the top two competitors are vulnerable and this gives Gradipore an opportunity for a significant gain in market share," Lieb said.

Since September 2001, Gradipore's gels, which are manufactured in Sydney, have been distributed in the US by Merck subsidiary VWR International. US sales grew by 32 per cent in the last 12 months.

VWR's director of life sciences, Ed Sapp, said that because it had the first mass-produced micro-gels on the market, Gradipore was unmatched in its category.

"The availability of breakthrough gel products such as MicroGels from Gradipore, as well as an extensive gel offering, enhances VWR's position as a leading worldwide life science distributor," he said.

Gradipore also has long-standing distribution agreements in Germany and the Benelux countries, and in May 2001 expanded into Switzerland and the UK. The company estimates the European market at more than 20 million pre-made electrophoresis gels annually.

Electrophoresis gels are a key element in proteomics, and Gradipore also said it had been approached by a number of proteomics instrumentation companies and that supply discussions were underway.