April 29, 2008 — /PRNewswire/ — ST. LOUIS, MO — SAFC Hitech(TM), a focus area within SAFC(R), a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, today underlined its commitment to the electronic materials markets with the opening of a $9 million state-of-the-art cleanroom located on the company’s Sheboygan Falls, WI campus. The 5,000-sq.-ft. facility consists of an ISO 4 cleanroom, a distillation suite, and office space.

The new facility, which became fully operational in late April, provides in-house trace metals analysis and the capability to clean and fill containers in a tightly controlled environment. The Sheboygan campus was selected as the site for the new cleanroom as it already provides large-scale manufacturing of products for the material science industry for SAFC, which supports the silicon semiconductor, compound semiconductor, and performance materials markets.

The extension of the Sheboygan campus enables SAFC Hitech to produce, package, and analyze its products in one location, completing the total supply chain, eliminating the need to use outside facilities, and ensuring customers an uninterrupted supply of the highest quality materials required for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

“One of SAFC’s primary business objectives is to continue to build the SAFC Hitech segment into a global leader in the supply of ultra-pure, high-quality materials and technical solutions to the electronics industries we serve,” says SAFC president Frank Wicks. “As the demand for new and increasingly efficient materials continues to grow, so does the need to attain higher and higher levels of quality and dependability from our products.

“This cleanroom investment complements existing manufacturing and extensive research and development sites at Sheboygan and will help us to achieve our objectives, essentially providing a ‘one stop shop’ for manufacturing, analysis, and packaging. As a result, SAFC Hitech customers will benefit from high-quality products that meet or exceed specifications, feature significantly reduced quality variations and are delivered on time.”

Looking ahead, Geoff Irvine, director, commercial development & marketing, SAFC Hitech, believes the Sheboygan facility can act as a blueprint for future expansion in overseas markets. “In 2007 we announced long-term plans for the expansion of our manufacturing footprint in both China and South Korea,” Irvine says. “We expect to be able to use the construction and operational experiences gained from Sheboygan and apply it to future, similar developments serving other markets, thereby expanding our global presence using tried and tested methodologies.”

About SAFC Hitech
SAFC Hitech provides a unique chemistry service translating application understanding into performance materials worldwide. Through collaborative partnerships and an integrated approach from research and development, process development, and scale-up to commercial manufacturing, SAFC Hitech invests in innovation and manufacturing enabling current and future technology needs.

Visit www.safchitech.com

About SAFC
SAFC(R) is the custom manufacturing and services group within Sigma-Aldrich that focuses on products and services for high technology applications, cell culture products and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, biochemical production and the manufacturing of complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates. SAFC has manufacturing facilities around the world dedicated to providing manufacturing services for companies requiring a reliable partner to produce their custom manufactured materials. SAFC has four focus areas — SAFC Pharma(TM), SAFC Supply Solutions(R), SAFC Biosciences(TM), and SAFC Hitech(TM) — and had annual sales of nearly $600 million in 2007. SAFC is one of the world’s 10 largest fine chemical businesses.

Visit www.safcglobal.com

About Sigma-Aldrich
Sigma-Aldrich is a leading life science and high technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease, and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology manufacturing. The company has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and industry. More than one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 36 countries and has 7,900 employees providing excellent service worldwide. The company is committed to accelerating customers’ success through leadership in life science, high technology, and service.

Visit www.sigma-aldrich.com