Company Announcements

TTP Labtech named David Newble, previously CEO of TAP Biosystems, as managing director in June, replacing Dr. Jas Sangera, who was named chairman.

In July, TTP Labtech announced that fiscal year ending March 31 revenues grew 7.5% to £18.7 million ($30.2 million), and orders totaled £20.1 million ($32.4 million). During the year, the company opened a new office in Delhi, India.

In June, Labcyte extended its collaboration with the Institute of Molecular Medicine Finland of the University of Helsinki for use of its Echo liquid handlers for new personalized medicine strategies to treat cancer patients. The extension expands the collaboration to genomic and proteomic applications downstream of drug-sensitivity testing.

In August, Hamilton Storage formed Hamilton Storage GmbH, based in Malans, Switzerland, with 40 employees, to serve Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The territories were formerly managed under a distribution agreement with Hamilton Bonaduz.

In September, Finland-based Ginolis, a provider of automation solutions, agreed to acquire Wegera, a machine and assembly service provider.

Brooks Automation exclusively licensed PharmaSeq’s p-Chip microtransponder technology for use in life science applications.

Product Introductions

Universal Robots launched in the US in March the 11.0 kg UR3 robot, featuring 360° rotation on all wrist joints and infinite rotation on the end joint.

In June, Tecan introduced the D300e Digital Dispenser for applications down to picoliter volumes, with a choice of dispensing aqueous solutions in combination with a surfactant or DMSO.

In August, Tecan launched new hardware and software options for its Fluent laboratory automation solution, enabling a wider range of applications. New features include an air-displacement Flexible Channel Arm.

In July, BioTek Instruments launched the Synergy Neo2 Multi-Mode Reader, featuring faster speeds and a modular configuration.

In August, BioTek Instruments announced that its Synergy Neo2 Multi-Mode Reader received Cisbio HTRF certification, that several of its readers received Promega DL Ready certifications, and that all of its multimode readers received Transcreener HTS Assay certifications from BellBrook Labs.

In September, Labcyte released the Echo Combination Screen, the sixth addition to its suite of software applications for the Echo system. It features a built-in tool for designing dose-response curves that automatically coverts starting concentrations and dilution factors into transfer and normalization volumes for any curve.