Varian Receives Six-Million-Dollar NMR Spectrometer Order From RIKEN

Varian Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), the newly-formed scientific instruments and vacuum technologies company, announced today that it has received its largest order ever for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers. The Japanese Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) is purchasing multiple Varian Inc. high-field NMR spectrometers outfitted with 800 MHz and 600 MHz magnets. The order is valued at some six million dollars.

RIKEN will use the Varian NMR spectrometers to determine the structure of proteins being identified as part of the human genome project. Scheduled for installation in March 2000, the new systems will join existing NMR instruments in operation at RIKEN.

In NMR spectroscopy, a chemical sample is placed into a very strong magnetic field. Using sophisticated electronic and computer technology, the NMR spectrometer provides information on how the atoms in a molecule are joined together in space.

NMR instruments are increasingly critical tools for bio-molecular, pharmaceutical, chemical, and materials science research, in such applications as drug discovery, human genome studies, and exploration of diseases ranging from AIDS to the common cold.

Varian is a manufacturer of scientific instruments and vacuum technologies, serving life science, health care, chemical, environmental, and industrial customers. It is a major supplier of analytical instrument solutions, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems, vacuum products and services, and operates a contract electronics manufacturing center.

Varian Inc., Phone: 650-424-5781.