GroPep, CSL amend agreement

Adelaide company GroPep and cell culture reagent distribution partner CSL have amended their sales and distribution agreement to reflect expected demand for GroPep's growth factor products by extending the agreed minimum sales targets from the 2005-2006 financial year through to the end of the 2010 financial year, when the agreement ends.

Average sales of the growth factors are expected to grow by 15 to 20 per cent per year, throughout the whole period of the agreement. Details of the agreement remain confidential.

CFO Tony Mitchell said that the amended agreement indicated CSL and its subsidiary JRH Biosciences, which distributes the growth factors world wide, had confidence in their ability to continue to grow the market for growth factor products, in particular Long R3 IGF1, used in the production of biopharmaceuticals.

GroPep CEO Bob Finder has welcomed the amendment to the agreement, saying that it should bring more confidence to shareholders.

"Modification of the existing agreement with CSL to extend the minimum targets through 2010 should bring more confidence to the shareholders and investment community by showing the growth factor business continues to grow at an excellent rate," he said.

At the time of writing, GroPep's share price (ASX: GRO) had risen by nearly 19 per cent to $AUD0.44.