Precision System Science licensed Hitachi’s bead array technology for commercializing new capillary bead tips. Digilab BioVisioN GmbH licensed GenWay Biotech’s Seppro IgY technology for proteomic sample preparation and will become the Official European Seppro Center. In July, Sigma-Aldrich promoted Gerrit van den Dool to the newly created position of vice president of Sales and Dr. […]

Fluid Imaging Technologies introduced the new FlowCAM particle analysis instrument, featuring 23 measurement parameters. PAC introduced the OptiDist distillation analyzer. Instron released the Dynatup 9250 impact tester, which is especially suited for finished-product applications. Instron’s Wilson Instruments launched the Minuteman ELT Automation Series for Tukon microindentation, Knoop, Vickers and Rockwell hardness testing. ATS RheoSystems released […]

In the second quarter of 2007, revenues for IBO’s Laboratory Sales Index grew a robust 13.8% to $4,083 million. Operating profit jumped 29.3% to $631 million, and operating margin climbed 190 basis points to 15.5% of sales. Strong organic and acquisition-related growth from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bruker BioSciences, PerkinElmer and Agilent helped boost revenues and […]

Esco Technologies named Mike Martin general manager of US operations in March. He was previously general manager of Lancer Sales. Esco Technologies established a subsidiary in Salisbury, UK, earlier this year. On May 4, Becton, Dickinson and Company acquired Plasso Technology, a surface-engineering company that specializes in biological coatings for consumables, for $10 million in […]

Laboratory equipment tends to be the humble workhorse in a lab. While it does not perform the high-profile work of measuring and analyzing samples, research simply could not be done without it. Traditionally, aesthetics have not been a priority in the design of lab equipment. The decision by a laboratory equipment manufacturer to improve the […]

By the time Bio-Rad Laboratories acquired Ciphergen Biosystems’ ProteinChip systems business for $20 million (see IBO 8/15/06) in November last year, the product line had a rocky commercial history. Sales of the ProteinChip system, which was launched in 1999, and related products peaked in 2003. The ProteinChip system uses chip-based chromatography to separate and enrich […]

The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is a very sensitive instrument for measuring mass, capable of measuring nanogram quantities of substances deposited on specially prepared quartz crystals, which are typically disk-shaped. Quartz is used due to its strong piezoelectric response: vibrations in the crystal create electrical pulses and vice versa. As with the quartz crystal in […]

San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center again hosted the 2007 Semicon West exposition, which ran July 16–20. Last year, IBO noted a certain levity among the booths and exhibits (see IBO 7/15/06), as spirits were doubtless buoyed by the surge of business in 2006. Indeed, sales of semiconductor equipment in 2006 surpassed even the generous growth […]

In the June 30 issue, IBO examined the acquisition of molecular diagnostic providers by companies traditionally associated with research instrumentation and products. QIAGEN NV is one such company. QIAGEN currently offers 34 CE-marked IVD assays, six CE-marked IVD sample preparation products, nine China State Food and Drug Administration– approved IVD assays and one FDA 510K-approved […]

Recent acquisitions have highlighted the evolving relationship of instrument companies and the molecular diagnostics market. Last month, QIAGEN acquired Digene, the largest provider of human papillomavirus (HPV) diagnostics tests, for $1.6 billion (see IBO 6/15/07). Earlier this year, Agilent acquired Stratagene for $246.2 million (see IBO 4/15/07). These developments follow acquisitions last year by Luminex […]