3^rd factory building of Takara Biotechnology (Dalian) Co., Ltd. which is our manufacturing center of research reagents in China has established

Jan 30, 2008 --- To increase the production capacity of research reagents at our subsidiary, Takara Biotechnology (Dalian) Co., Ltd, its 3^rd factory building was constructed. The completion ceremony will be held on February 2^nd 2008.

In order to reinforce the product lineup of the Genetic Engineering Research segment, we acquired U.S.-based Clontech in September 2005. Consolidated net sales rose from 11,800 million (fiscal year ended March 2005) yen to 18,500 million (fiscal year ended March 2007) yen. Before the acquisition of Clontech, overseas sales made up 20% of the total sales (fiscal year ended March 2005). After the acquisition, overseas sales (fiscal ended March 2007) have expanded to 40% of the total.

Most of our research reagents are manufactured in Takara Biotechnology (Dalian), providing highly advanced productions with excellent price competitiveness.

We believe that we can boost our competiveness by transferring the manufacture of Clontech products to Takara Biotechnology (Dalian).

The number of Takara Biotechnology (Dalian)'s production items will be about 1.5 times (about 3000 items) the current amount by the completion of the transfer process which is to be done by this March.

Takara Biotechnology (Dalian) is not only the production base of our entire group but also the major point of our sales network in China, whose market is rapidly increasing. In connection with Takara Biomedical Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., we aim for 1,000 million yen as net sales in China.

[ Architectural Overview ]

Site area	:	6,483 m2
Total construction cost	:	About 700 million yen

[ About Takara Bio Inc. ]

Takara Bio Inc. is an innovative biotechnology company based in Shiga, Japan. As a world leader in biotechnology research and development, Takara Bio was the first company to market PCR technology in Japan and is also the developer of the RetroNectin^® reagent, which is a world-standard in gene therapy protocols. In addition to providing research reagents and equipment to the life science research market, Takara Bio has active research and product development activities in the fields of gene and cell-based therapy, and agricultural biotechnology; and is committed preventing disease and improving the quality of life for all people through the use of biotechnology. Through strategic alliances with other industry leaders, the Company aims to extend its reach around the world. More information is available at http://www.takara-bio.com.

This article is translated from press release in Japanese for your convenience.

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