Grace Opens Discovery Sciences Technical Center in Shanghai.

COLUMBIA, Md. -- W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA) announced today that it will open a technical services laboratory in Shanghai, China for its Grace Davison Discovery Sciences product group, significantly improving the company's ability to support life sciences R&D across Asia.

Technical personnel in the new facility will primarily be responsible for working with Asia-based customers and responding to local market needs in an efficient way. The technicians will also be responsible for developing new chromatographic applications, particularly those utilizing Grace's market-leading Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (ELSD).

"China is a particularly robust market for ELSD techniques, which are used to discover and develop Chinese medicines," said Greg Poling, president of Grace Davison. "This new facility will give us greater access and greater intellectual capability to meet the unique needs of our customers in China and across Asia."

Chromatography is a technique used to separate mixtures of molecules into their individual constituents, frequently used in drug discovery and development applications. Grace is a leading innovator, manufacturer and marketer of chromatography columns and instrumentation, as well as silica gel, a material used in many chromatographic processes. Grace also offers column packing services and application development.

The new lab is located in a high technology development zone in Shanghai's suburbs. It will be equipped with modern testing equipment including high pressure liquid chromatography, solid phase extraction and preparative chromatography systems.

Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and other products and services to petroleum refiners; catalysts for the manufacture of plastics; silica-based engineered and specialty materials for a wide-range of industrial applications; specialty chemicals, additives and materials for commercial and residential construction; and can sealants and coatings for food packaging. With annual sales of more than $2.5 billion, Grace has over 6,400 employees in nearly 40 countries. For more information, visit Grace's web site at www.grace.com.