SAFC® Announces Launch of Raw Materials and Custom Services Developed Specifically for Point-of-Care Diagnostics Manufacture

ST. LOUIS, MO – March 15, 2011 – SAFC®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich® Group (NASDAQ: SIAL), today announced the launch of a diverse product offer designed to meet the demands of the burgeoning Point-of-Care (POC) testing diagnostics market. The offer provides a wide range of raw materials and custom manufacturing services for producers of both self test, or Over-the-Counter (OTC), diagnostic kits as well as professional POC diagnostics.

With manufacturing capabilities recently expanded in Europe through its Buchs, Switzerland facility ISO 13485 certification, SAFC’s new offer is targeted at alleviating industry concerns over security of supply in both the growing diabetes care and the professional POC markets. SAFC offers an entire spectrum of critical raw materials for use not only in glucose monitoring devices, but also for continuous monitoring diabetes care, HbA1C assays, urinary protein assays and creatinine assays.

SAFC’s expanded offer builds on its leading position in providing raw material to the diagnostics market and includes cell culture products, enzymes, buffers, detergents, carbohydrates and high specialty products, such as the ProClin® biocides.

“Through meeting both the OTC and professional POC customer requirements in terms of breadth of product, quality systems and supply chain management, we aim to ensure security of supply for the POC analyte market,” commented SAFC Diagnostics Segment Manager George Crowell. “We envisage that our global contract manufacturing base, our customization capabilities combined with our unique approach to creating customer tailored solution will prove to be key differentiators as we look to become the leading single-source supplier to these markets.”

Further information on SAFC’s POC offer can be found at: www.safcglobal.com.

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as “designed to meet,” “will provide,” “is targeted at,” "will offer,” "we aim,” “we envisage,” or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. There can be no guarantee that the diagnostic testing products described in this release will continue to meet the demands of the marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of these products will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular, management's expectations regarding these products could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company’s assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich’s current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About SAFC®: SAFC is the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. We are recognized as a top 10 global fine molecule supplier and trusted manufacturer of specialty chemicals and biologics for the life science and high technology industries. Utilizing global “Centers of Excellence” and dedicated manufacturing facilities, SAFC can resolve development and manufacturing challenges and accelerate the production of custom materials. Our rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high technology applications, cell culture products, services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biochemical production, and complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates. For more information about SAFC, visit www.safcglobal.com.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology manufacturing. The Company has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 40 countries and has 7,900 employees providing excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Innovation and Leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning web site at www.sigma-aldrich.com.

SAFC and Sigma-Aldrich are registered trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Biotechnology L.P. and Sigma-Aldrich Co.