CHELMSFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 5, 2005–ESA Biosciences, Inc., a subsidiary of Magellan Biosciences, Inc., announces its acquisition of Richard Scientific, a national distributor of specialty liquid chromatography products for analytical, micro-analytical, LC/MS and preparative applications. Richard Scientific is based in Novato, California, near San Francisco.

“This acquisition will enhance our position in the HPLC detector market by expanding our sales and support organization,” said Walter DiGiusto, ESA Biosciences president. “Richard Devereaux, founder of Richard Scientific, will join ESA as Manager of West Coast & Latin America Sales. The Novato facility will remain in place as will the company’s technical staff. Richard Scientific and ESA have both succeeded in the HPLC marketplace by emphasizing customer support and product quality. Richard Scientific will now be a strong complement to our full range of detection offerings, especially as we make exciting progress with the launch of our revolutionary and award-winning Corona CAD HPLC detector.”

Founded in 1985, Richard Scientific has been supplying analytical products including HPLC systems and components to the pharmaceutical, biotech and academic research market. “I am excited about joining forces with ESA. ESA offers a full range of detection products for HPLC and has recently introduced the Corona CAD,” said Richard Devereaux. “The Corona is truly a breakthrough technology that will change the face of HPLC detection, significantly improving the work of researchers and laboratories around the world.”