Company Announcements

In October, AMETEK India established the $5.5 million Technology Solutions Center at its facility in Bangalore, India. The Center houses instruments from 20 AMETEK companies.

AMETEK named Keith Reazin as vice president and general manager of its Instrumentation and Specialty Controls Division in November. Mr. Reazin had been Division vice president and Business Unit manager for AMETEK Aerospace & Defense’s Power and Data Systems business.

In October, HORIBA Korea consolidated three sites and transferred operations to a head office and factory in Anyang, with a floor area of 81,946 ft² (7,613 m²). The production area features new capabilities to produce large-scale products.

Illumina Accelerator announced in October its 8th investment cycle consisting of investments in 5 startups: therapeutic discovery firm Algen Biotechnologies, which is developing a platform for decoding functional gene networks; personalized medicine company Astarte Medical Partners, a designer of software for the analyzing gut health in order to improve care of preterm infants; Avial Bio, a precision oncology business working to optimized patient response to cancer therapeutics; molecular diagnostics firm Cognitive Genetics, a developer of tests for pre-symptomic risk assessment of common reading and learning disabilities; and drug discovery firm VastBiome, which aims to mine the gut microbiome.

Illumina announced in November that Mark Stapley, executive vice president, Strategy & Corporate Development, plans to leave the company effective January 1, 2019.

Fiscal 2018 sales for Precision System Science for the year ending June 30 declined 5.4% to ¥3,641 million ($330 million) (see IBO 10/15/18) due to a decline in OEM sales. Instrument, Reagent Kit & Consumables and Customized Product sales fell 3.8%, 12.3% and 11.2% to represent 52%, 27% and 12% of total sales, respectively. Maintenance revenue rose 19.7%. The company forecasts fiscal 2019 sales of ¥4,300 million ($390 million).

Techcomp shareholders voted in October to change the company’s name to Yunnan Energy International.

In October, Harvard Bioscience named Kam Unninayar as CFO, effective November 26. Most recently, she was CFO at Tetraphase, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.

BD (Becton, Dickinson) announced in October a $200 million investment in its facilities in Nebraska, creating 300 new jobs.

Third quarter revenue for Sartorius’ Lab Products & Services Division rose 7.4%, 9.7% in constant currencies, to €310.7 million ($345.2 million) (see IBO 10/31/18), including 3.5% sales growth from the Essen Bioscience acquisition (see IBO 3/15/17), with softer demand reported for Europe. The company lowered 2018 revenue growth guidance for the Division from 12%–15% to 8%–10% in constant currencies, including 2.5% growth from Essen. Bioprocess Solutions Division sales grew 12.2%, 14.8% in constant currencies, to €843.0 million ($936.7 million).

In October, Agilent Technologies named Eric Gerber as senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development, effective November 1. He previously served as vice president of business development at SCIEX.

Building upon its Frederick, Maryland, campus,  Thermo Fisher Scientific opened in October a new business center and biorepository. Newly expanded by more than 190,000 ft² (17,652 m²), the center will serve as the North American hub for Thermo Fisher’s life sciences business. The new building is the largest building on the campus with more than 80 employees. The expansion includes another 22,000 ft² (2,044 m²) to accommodate future growth and advancements in automation, bringing Thermo Fisher’s total investment in the facility to nearly $10 million. The expansion also adds a 77,000 ft² (7,154 m²) facility to house a dedicated Cryo-Innovation Center and National Cancer Institute Repository for Clinical Trials. Another 15,000 ft² (1,394 m²) has been reserved for future expansion.

In November, Thermo Fisher Scientific named Jim Mullen to its Board, bringing the total number of board members to 12. Mr. Mullen previously served as CEO of Patheon and also currently a director at Insulet and Editas Medicine.

GE Healthcare reported third quarter Life Sciences revenue grew 5%. Life Sciences orders increased 6% on an organic basis, including a 9% increase in bioprocess orders.

In November, Merck KGaA signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Development District to establish an innovation hub in Guangzhou, which is scheduled to open September 2019. The 7,535 ft² (700 m²) hub will be equipped with a showroom to demonstrate Merck’s latest technologies, innovation projects and future research direction of the three business sectors of Merck, Healthcare, Life Science and Performance Materials.

Bruker disclosed in its third quarter 10-K filing that in August, the Korea Fair Trade Commission informed the company of an investigation into the activities of a number of life science instrument companies operating in Korea, including Bruker Korea. Korean revenue represented less than 3% of the company’s nine month sales.

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments announced in November a collaborative relationship with EVIO Labs Florida, a medical marijuana testing lab.