Symrise BioActives Extends Esculin Distribution Partnership with Gee Lawson

16 Aug 2013 --- Symrise BioActives and Gee Lawson are extending a cooperation, which began in 2011. Symrise BioActives manufactures highly purified esculin, which Gee Lawson supplies to the diagnostics industry. Esculin is used in microbiology culture media to reliably identify contamination from species such as streptococci and listeria, and so can be used to monitor food and water as well as the clinical testing of patients.

Manufacturers of food, cosmetic products and pharmaceuticals consider one criterion most crucial in their production processes – Compliance with the highest quality and microbiological standards.

One of the best-known natural diagnostic materials comes from the bark of the horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) and is called esculin. In nature, horse-chestnut tree bark has an esculin content of 3%. Symrise BioActives enriches this extract to over 98% pure white material, and the product it makes has a solubility and level of purity which is suitable for all diagnostic applications. World leading global manufacturers of diagnostic media all produce formulations which use esculin and Gee Lawson is a close supply partner of all these users. The material also finds other applications, for example in topical pharmaceuticals and some cosmetic products.

Symrise BioActives’/Gee Lawsons’ “Diagnostic Esculin” is approved by all of the leading diagnostics manufacturers. In order to best serve and develop the requirements of these specialized companies, a partnership with Gee Lawson began in 2011. The cooperation has now been extended by both companies until the end of 2015.

“With Gee Lawson as our partner, we can reach all of the major diagnostics customers,” says Stephan Hillers, Managing Director of Symrise BioActives GmbH in Hamburg. “Their market expertise and contact with culture media manufacturers perfectly complement Symrise BioActives’ experience in producing highly enriched plant extracts.”

“Thanks to the cooperation with Symrise BioActives, our customers produce a range of quality culture media which are reliably used across a wide area of diagnostics,” adds Jonathan Shorts, Managing Director of Gee Lawson. “We want to continue our cooperation and find additional applications for the products from Symrise BioActives,” says Shorts with the full agreement of Hillers.