Copan Announces Multimillion Expansion of its US Operations

Despite tough economic times, Copan is proud to announce the expansion of its US operations. A new multimillion dollar investment project is being undertaken to bring plastic transfer pipet and additional medical device manufacturing operations to Copan Diagnostics, in Murrieta, California. The expansion plan includes the addition of blow molding machinery to expand Copan’s current capabilities, as well as to create local jobs.

To support the
expansion, Copan purchased a 13,000 sq ft building adjacent to its current
facility to house new plastic blow molding equipment used to manufacture
transfer pipets. The new building allows the transfer of some activities from
its current location freeing up space to expand medical device manufacturing
operations for the company’s microbiology specimen collection and transport
line. The project is an integral part of Copan’s corporate wide plan to support
future demand. Norman Sharples, Executive VP, says that “in today’s market, companies
must examine opportunities to bring further efficiencies to their operations to
remain competitive, which is what we are doing with this endeavor.”

Plastic
transfer pipets are an essential product widely used by hospital, research and
industrial laboratories for transferring liquids and clinical samples during
diagnostics testing or analytical research. In fact, as many as 500 million
pipets are used in the USA annually. Copan has manufactured pipets at its
Italian headquarters for over 25 years, and it has developed a customized blow
molding equipment that maximizes productivity through a fully automated system
for separating molded product from waste material, which is then 100% recycled.

The efficient
technology developed and tuned at Copan Italia is now transferred to
California. “The decision to bring manufacturing of this product line locally
is to be able to bring the product closer to our customers to respond rapidly
to their needs” Sharples adds. The initial phase of manufacture will focus on
the three most popular pipets: 1ml, 3ml and Blood Banking pipets. During this
phase, Copan will produce 300,000 pipets daily with plans to increase
production in 2010.

“Copan is
excited about this new venture as it greatly expands the capabilities of our US
operation and allows Copan to enhance service to our customers. This expansion
also marks the 15^th anniversary of Copan’s operations in the US”
Sharples concludes.

About Copan Diagnostics,
Inc.

With a reputation for
innovation in preanalytics, Copan Diagnostics is the leading manufacturer of
collection and transport systems in the world. Copan offers a complete range of
microbial sampling products used for traditional culture analysis and for
molecular diagnostic assays, as well as producing innovations, like the
patented Flocked Swabs, Universal Transport Medium and ESwab. The company
manufactures a comprehensive line of laboratory consumables comprising of
inoculation loops, needles, spreaders and transfer pipets. Copan also produces WASP:
Walk-Away Specimen Processor, a revolutionary system for automatic planting and
streaking of microbiology samples. For more information about Copan, visit www.copanusa.com