Microsaic Systems announced in September that it has OEM agreements in place with four companies, a distribution agreement with one company and Heads of Terms agreements with two other companies, one being Quantum Analytics for the US.

Proteome Sciences reported that TMT reagent sales increased 13% for the six months ending June 30.

SCIEX announced the establishment of the SCIEX Multi-omics Centre for Precision Medicine, a partnership with the Stoller Biomarker Discovery Centre at the University of Manchester, UK, which will open next year and focus on biomarker discovery and validation. The Centre will house SCIEX TripleTOF 6600 Systems with SWATH Acquisition and QTRAP 6500 Systems.

Waters named the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica’s Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine to its Centers of Innovation Program. It is the Program’s first China-based participant.

In October, Advion opened direct sales and support operations in China, with more than 25 people.

Protein Metrics opened sales and support centers in Boston, Massachusetts, and Geneva, Switzerland.

In October, Shimadzu opened the 1,009 m2 Shimadzu China Mass Spectrometry Center at its Beijing branch, with an initial staff of 10. By the end of 2016, the Center plans to invest more than ¥460 million ($3.7 million) in R&D.

First Detect, an Astrotech subsidiary, announced in November that CEO Bob C. Kibler passed away. Astrotech Chairman and CEO Thomas B. Pickens III will serve as acting CEO.

Product Introductions

CAMAG launched in October its TLC-MS Interface 2, which is designed for easier cleaning and simplified plate positioning.

SCIEX introduced the SCIEXNow Online, a personalized online support network, which includes a comprehensive, easy-to-search Knowledge Base, and online technical live chat, initially available in Europe.

Bruker released the Molecular Drug Imager solution for preclinical drug and metabolite imaging using MALDI MS.

Agena Bioscience plans to launch a CE-IVD marked MassARRAY DX Plus assay for gene-specific mutation testing to aid in the selection of targeted therapy regiments. The first kits will be introduced in partnership with Diatech Pharmacogenetics.

In November, SCIEX launched the X-Series MS platform, comprised of customized models for targeted applications. The X500R Q-TOF MS, the first model, is designed for routine food, environmental and forensic testing labs. The X-Series is driven by new SCIEX OS software, which includes SWATH Acquisition, MRM acquisition and high-speed MS/MS scanning.