Company Announcements

In June, Shimadzu opened a 5,350 m² analytical and measuring instruments manufacturing plant in Malaysia, with 61 employees. The number of employees is expected to reach 168 by fiscal 2020.

Shimadzu’s Analytical and Measurement Instrument division (AMI) announced in August that it purchased in April SINC, a former Brazilian distributor. The acquisition is part of a $12 million investment by SBL, Shimadzu’s Brazilian sales subsidiary, which also includes new headquarters and a lab in Barueri. The company estimates SBL sales of $40 million in fiscal 2019.

BioSurplus, a buyer and seller of preowned lab equipment, named Bill VanDeWeghe, cofounder and former CEO of RippleNami, as president and CEO in July. Former President and CEO Cinco Plumb continues to serve as chairman.

Danaher named Robert J. Hugin to its Board in July, increasing the size of the Board to 11 members. He is executive chairman of Celgene.

Merck KGaA plans to build a five-story, $115 million, 280,000 ft² facility in Burlington, Massachusetts, for its North American life science business that will house a customer collaboration lab and training center, including an M Lab Collaboration Center, and office space. Merck’s 850 Billerica-based employees will relocate to the new building, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017.

GE Healthcare Life Sciences sales grew 8%, or 11% organically, in the second quarter, according to the company’s quarterly conference call. Bioprocess orders rose 26%.

Second quarter sales for Sartorius’ Lab Products & Services Division (LPS) grew 3.0%, 5.8% excluding currency, to €80.7 million ($90.7 million = €0.89 = $1) to account for 25% of revenues (see IBO 7/31/16). Growth was driven by strong demand for lab filters and double-digit organic sales growth in the EMEA region. However, currency-neutral sales in the Americas and Asia Pacific declined. LPS adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 148 basis points to 17.3%. For 2016, the LPS sales outlook was raised to 6%–9% to include acquisitions (see IBO 6/30/16, 7/15/16).

Fiscal first quarter sales ending June 30 for Hitachi High-Technologies’ Science and Medical Systems (SMS) advanced 13.4% to ¥45.8 billion ($424.3 million = ¥107.93= $1) to account for 31% of company revenues (see IBO 7/31/16). Despite currency headwinds, sales growth benefited from the acquisition of its subsidiary Hitachi Aloka Medical by the Medical Products business. Electron Microscopes and Scientific Instruments sales declined 10.4% and 6.2%, respectively, primarily due to currency. The merger boosted SMS operating margin, which climbed 450 basis points to 20.1%.

In July, PerkinElmer elected Frank Witney, PhD, to its Board. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Affymetrix.

Ampersand Capital Partners announced in September the addition of Frank Witney, PhD, as an operating partner. Dr. Witney recently served as president and CEO of Affymetrix.

Illumina named Philip W. Schiller to its Board in July, increasing the size of its Board from 8 to 9 members. He is Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

BD appointed R. Andrew “Andy” Eckert, CEO of Valence Health, to its Board, effective September 26.

In August, Agilent Technologies announced the acquisition of 20 acres in Weld County, Colorado, to build a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in order to double its commercial manufacturing capacity for nucleic acid APIs.

Driven by growth in all product lines, second quarter sales for Biotage climbed 10.0%, 11.1% excluding currency, to SEK 162.9 million ($19.8 million = SEK 8.22 = $1) (see IBO 8/31/16). Purification product sales grew in double digits, led by continued demand for the new V-10 Touch system. Demand increased in all major geographic regions, with particular strength in the US, Japan and China. Operating margin expanded 290 basis points to 14.9% primarily due to currency.

For fiscal 2016 ending June 30, Precision System Science sales contracted 13.3% to ¥4.4 billion ($38.2 million = ¥116.72= $1) (see IBO 8/31/16) due to lower instrument sales to OEM partners. This decline was attributed to a large special order from QIAGEN for Ebola testing in the previous year. Operating loss more than doubled to ¥737 million ($6.3 million). Fiscal 2017 sales are projected to be roughly flat.

Eppendorf announced in August that for the first half year revenues grew 5.5%, 7.1% adjusted for currency effects, to €305.5 million ($339.4 million), led by strength in China. EBIT increased 23.3% to €58.0 million ($64.4 million), with an EBIT margin of 19%.

First half Industrial Applications sales for bioMérieux increased 5.0%, 7.8% in constant currency, to €181.5 million ($201.7 million), or 18% of total sales.

In September, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the opening of a new 286,000 ft² headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, which houses 330 employees.

Analytik Jena announced in September that Ulrich Krauss, the Board member responsible for Sales and Marketing, was named CEO, effective October 1. Former CEO Klaus Berka will become a member of the Supervisory Board.