AQura Deploys ACD/Labs NMR Software Across Research Facilities at Marl and Wolfgang

AQura Deploys ACD/Labs NMR Software Across Research Facilities at Marl and Wolfgang

Toronto, Canada (February 8, 2006) -- AQura GmbH, the Analytical Competence Center of Degussa AG, and the reliable analytical service partner for customers in the areas of the chemical, biotechnical, and pharmaceutical industries, has completed a network installation of ACD/Labs’ expert tools for NMR prediction, processing, and data management across their Marl Chemical Park and Wolfgang Industrial Park research facilities.

Included in the installation were ACD/Labs ¹H and ¹³C NMR Predictors for calculating chemical shifts and coupling constants; 1D NMR Processors for vendor-neutral processing and interpretation; and the 1D NMR database module of ACD/SpecManager, the overall spectroscopic processing and data management software that unifies analytical data information of all types into a single interface. The Aldrich NMR Library in ACD/Labs format was also installed to supplement AQura’s own centralized databases.

Dr. Matthias Janik for AQura GmbH, states, “We are extremely satisfied with the integration of ACD/Labs’ powerful yet accessible software. The ease of use coupled with the good integration of structures in the spectra and the database enables us to improve predictions, interpretation, and management of data. With this advancement we will be able to continue to successfully serve a number of branches of industry. This integration will complement our continuously trained staff and enable us to continuously meet our customers’ requirements through state-of-the-art technology. Intensive consideration of the products and processes of our customers make us professionals in our area.”

Researchers at AQura were provided with the opportunity to test the software vigorously prior to making their purchasing decision to ensure that the software provided accurate prediction for ¹³C and ¹H, and allowed for the influence of solvent, hetero nuclei, stereochemistry, and sterical effects. Dr. Heinz Hofmann, Managing Director of ScienceServe GmbH, the official ACD/Labs partner for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, remarks, “After widely spread installations in the pharmaceutical industry in our territory, we are very happy that the ACD/Labs NMR software solution has been adopted by the global market leader in specialty chemicals. We are proud that beside the superior product quality, our technical support and consulting has led to a purchasing decision in favor of ACD/Labs.”

Dr. Guy Desmarquets, Director of European Operations for ACD/Labs, adds “As a leading developer of vendor-neutral Nuclear Magnetic Resonance software with over 10 years of experience, we are continuously augmenting our understanding of the needs in an NMR laboratory. With the growing popularity of our NMR software throughout Europe we have observed deeper collaborations between corporate divisions and individual research groups in different countries. We are delighted to work with AQura and extend our NMR software across their research facilities in Germany and provide a consolidated way to store work in progress and analytical data across different research facilities.

Information about ACD/Labs’ full range of NMR prediction and interpretation tools is available at www.nmrsoftware.com.

About Advanced Chemistry Development

Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., (ACD/Labs) is a chemistry software company offering solutions that truly integrate chemical structures with analytical chemistry information to produce ChemAnalytics^®. ACD/Labs creates innovative software packages that aid chemical research scientists worldwide with spectroscopic validation of structures, elucidation of unknown substances, chromatographic separation, medicinal chemistry, preformulation of novel drug agents, systematic nomenclature generation, and chemical patenting and publication. Combined, ACD/Labs' solutions create an analytical informatics system that provides dramatic feed-forward effects on the chemical and pharmaceutical research process. Founded in 1993, and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, ACD/Labs employs a team of over 100 dedicated individuals whose continual efforts carry ACD/Labs' innovative technologies into pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and materials companies throughout the world. Information about Advanced Chemistry Development and its products can be found at www.acdlabs.com.

About ScienceServe GmbH

ScienceServe GmbH, a German company located in Pegnitz, Bavaria, was founded in 1994 for the purpose of scientific software and information distribution, consulting, and training services for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The well established company is one of the leading vendors of scientific desktop software, chemical databases, analytical data management, enterprise solutions, and computational chemistry software. With more than 1000 customers in all major chemical and pharmaceutical companies as well as academic research organizations, ScienceServe is one of the principal providers of chemistry software in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe. Additional information about ScienceServe can be found at http://www.scienceserve.com.

About AQura GmbH and Degussa AG

Focal points of AQura include the development, evaluation, and testing of new methods in the fields of large apparatus analysis and special technologies. AQura is the Analytical Competence Center of Degussa AG and the reliable analytical service partner in the areas of the chemical, biotechnical, and pharmaceutical industries. The longstanding industrial experience of this subsidiary of Degussa AG in the area of chemical, physical, and biological tests—along with the 250 committed staff at the sites in Hanau-Wolfgang and Marl—guarantee efficient solutions to chemical questions and requirements in the lab.

Degussa is the global market leader in specialty chemicals. Their innovative products and system solutions make an indispensable contribution to their customers' success, which is summed up by their claim of "creating essentials". In fiscal 2004 Degussa's 45,000 employees worldwide generated sales of 11.2 billion euros and operating profits (EBIT) of 965 million euros. Further information about AQura and Degussa can be found at www.aqura.de and www.degussa.com, respectively.

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