London, UK 5/9/12—LGC Standards has acquired VHG Labs, a US-based supplier of spectrochemical standards, lab instrument consumables and product-testing services, for an undisclosed amount. “For LGC Standards, this latest acquisition builds on our strategy to increase our footprint in the US market,” said LGC Standards Managing Director David Richardson. “Importantly, it is also a good […]
London, UK 3/5/12—Abcam, a supplier of protein research tools, has agreed to acquire Epitomics for $155 million (net Epitomics’ $15 million in cash) in cash and stock. Epitomics provides rabbit monoclonal antibodies (RabMAbs) and has three units: Reagents, which develops and distributes antibodies for research applications; custom antibodies for research and diagnostic applications; and IVD […]
Carlsbad, CA 1/16/12—Life Technologies has agreed with DaAn Gene to form Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostics, a joint venture diagnostic business in China. DaAn Gene is a Chinese molecular in vitro diagnostic solutions provider. The joint venture will develop and commercialize molecular diagnostic assays using Life Technologies’ 3500 Dx capillary electrophoresis system and Big Dye Cycle […]
Academic and Government Spending Concerns In 2011, concerns about cuts to the NIH budget and European governments’ research spending kept instrument and lab product companies on edge, affecting sales growth and operations, especially at life science companies. Uncertainty about budget changes froze spending at some US labs, while cutbacks affected labs in certain European countries. […]
On November 30, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for Horizon 2020, the EU’s €79,271 million ($105,713 million = €0.75 = $1) R&D program for 2014 through 2020. The program aims to unite existing EU research programs, simplify and streamline EU funding for R&D, and promote strategic priorities. The program encompasses major EU mechanisms for […]
Two recent announcements by Thermo Fisher Scientific illustrate the company’s commitment to its diagnostics business. Diagnostics is not a new market for the company but, as the news made clear, it is one in which the company has a solid position and one for which it is investing in research. Revenue for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s […]
In what continues to be a busy acquisition period, another set of publicly held analytical instrument companies is set to become one. On September 8, PerkinElmer announced an agreement to acquire Caliper Life Sciences for an estimated $600 million in cash (see page 2). The companies’ complementary product lines and end-markets are a logical combination, […]
Venlo, The Netherlands 6/15/11—QIAGEN announced that it has made an offer and entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire 47% of Ipsogen for €12.90 ($18.60 = €0.69 = $1) per share. Subsequently, QIAGEN would make a public offer to acquire the remainder of the company for the same price, which is a 71.3% premium over Ipsogen’s […]
NanoString Technologies was founded in 2003 to develop a technology to detect and count large sets of target molecules in biological samples. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company employs about 90 people and has raised more than $47 million since it was founded. NanoString Technologies launched its first commercial instrument, the nCounter Analysis System, in […]
Cambridge, MA 5/17/10; Washington, DC 5/17/10—DNA sequencer provider Helicos BioSciences has announced a restructuring plan and strategic shift. The company will now focus solely on molecular diagnostics and has exited the genetic research market. The operational restructuring eliminated 40 positions, or half of the company’s workforce, during the second quarter. “In particular, our technology’s ability […]
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IBO (Instrument Business Outlook) is a twice-monthly newsletter aimed at providing decision-makers with the latest and most complete information available on the life science and analytical instrument industry, and lab product markets. IBO delivers the latest curated industry news, information and trends, as well as SDi data and analysis to deliver the maximum in industry insight with a minimum time investment for executives and investors.
