Rigaku/MSC Buys RoboDesign

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, March 7 -- Rigaku/MSC Inc. announced it has purchased all of the outstanding shares of RoboDesign International Inc., a lab automation products and custom engineering company.

RoboDesign develops biotech and laboratory automation equipment and robotics technology for pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations involved in proteomics and structural biology research; applications include protein crystallization growth, storage, retrieval and imaging. It will continue to operate in Carlsbad, Calif., as RoboDesign International. Keith Crane, senior vice president of operations at Rigaku/MSC, will be president and COO of RoboDesign International.

As a subsidiary of Rigaku/MSC Inc., RoboDesign said it will enhance its focus on fully integrated automated solutions for high-throughput protein crystal growth and screening in order to integrate it with Rigaku/MSC’s recent initiatives, including the development of software, home laboratory equipment and robotic x-ray crystallography products.

Rigaku/MSC is a Texas subsidiary of and distributor for Rigaku Corp., of Japan. Rigaku/MSC and another Rigaku subsidiary, Osmic Inc., of Michigan, form a US group focused on x-ray instrumentation. Osmic Inc. makes precision optics for life sciences, semiconductor and microlithography.

For more information, visit: www.rigaku.com