Watrex

Watrex Praha s.r.o. is a leading Czech inventor, manufacturer, and distributor of liquid chromatography instruments and systems, established in 1990 by Dr. Milan Minarik, a founding father of GPC and HPLC in former Czechoslovakia. The company initially acted as a general distributor for major brands like Waters and Hewlett-Packard. Watrex has since evolved from sole distribution to manufacturing its own chromatography products, including DeltaChrom LC Pumps, detectors, fraction collectors, and solvent savers. They also offer signature Polymer IEX ion exclusion chromatography and DeltaSil C18 phase columns. In the 2000s, Watrex expanded into laboratory automation systems, developing the Caddy robotic system for DNA sequencers in collaboration with Amersham Biosciences. Since 2015, Dr. Marek Minarik has led the company, introducing the redesigned Streamline line of chromatography instrumentation, which includes robust double piston pumps, various detectors (variable wavelength, photodiode array, refractive-index, conductivity), column thermostats, and fraction collectors. In 2022, Watrex launched xTROVERT, a compact laboratory automation pipettor, developed with support from the Czech government. Watrex holds several patents and utility models, and actively engages in scientific collaborations and research projects supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.