Company Announcements

QIAGEN’s first-quarter sales rose 13% at constant exchange rates, including 7% growth from acquisitions and a 1% decline from currency. At constant exchange rates, sales in the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia-Pacific grew 15%, 12% and 14% to make up 47%, 34% and 18% of sales, respectively. Seven emerging countries accounted for 10% of sales and grew 25% at constant exchange rates. Consumables and Instruments revenues rose 14% and 12% to 88% and 12% of sales, respectively. At constant exchange rates, Molecular Diagnostics sales grew 21% to 47% of sales, with double-digit consumable sales growth and a low single-digit decline for instrument sales. Applied Testing sales rose 23% to 7% of sales, with double-digit growth for both consumables and instruments. Pharmaceutical sales rose 10% to 20% of sales, with double-digit growth for instrument sales and growth for consumable sales. Sales to Academia grew 3% to 25% of sales, with single-digit growth for consumable sales and lower instrument sales. QIAGEN plans to generate $50 million in pre-tax savings this year.

Effective July 1, QIAGEN created two new business areas, Molecular Diagnostics and Life Sciences, and appointed Helge Lubenow, PhD, and Dietrich Hauffe, PhD, senior vice presidents of the respective businesses. Dr. Joachim Schorr, managing director and senior vice president of Global Research and Development, left the company in the second quarter. His responsibilities will be assumed by the R&D leaders of the business areas.

Life Technologies announced that William H. Longfield retired from its Board in April.

AMETEK named Robert R. Mandos, Jr., executive vice president and CFO, effective July 1. He currently serves as senior vice president and comptroller.

EMD Millipore appointed Andrew Bulpin, head of Global Pharmaceutical Chemicals Solutions Sales, as head of the Process Solutions Business Unit, effective May 14.

In May, EMD Millipore named John Sweeney, former head of the Life Science Business Field, head of the Bioscience Business Unit.

In May, Becton Dickinson (BD) inaugurated its first R&D facility in Chennai, India. The company also signed an engineering and R&D services agreement with HCL Technologies, an IT services provider.

BD appointed CEO and President Vincent A. Forlenza as chairman, effective July 1.

Analytik Jena opened an office in Dubai in May. The office will manage sales activities for the Middle East.

Beckman Coulter announced in May that it obtained a CLIA Certificate of Registration, along with Massachusetts State Licensure, allowing Beckman Coulter Genomics to accept clinical samples for genetic sequencing and to provide those results to physicians. The company can now offer detection of BRAF exon 11 and exon 15 for mutations using PCR-based DNA Sanger sequencing, the first clinical molecular diagnostic assay the company has developed.