Company Announcements

Thermo Fisher Scientific appointed C. Martin Harris, MD, MBA, to its Board, effective March 30. He is the chief information officer and chairman of the information technology division of Cleveland Clinic. He is also responsible for strategic business planning.

Thermo Fisher Scientific named David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD, to its Scientific Advisory Board in March. He is a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Michael Porter resigned from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Board in March.

In March, PROXY Laboratories acquired Netherlands-based MicroSafe Services, a microbiological contract lab, from Merck Millipore.

Agilent announced in March a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the FDA to improve DNA-based tools for confirming that seafood is correctly labeled. The first part of the project will develop an assay panel to identify subtypes of salmonella in food, focused on MS-based genotyping. The second part will update Agilent’s lab-on-a-chip method for DNA analysis to identify fish species.

GE Healthcare opened its expanded Fast Trak Training Center, which provides training for start-to-finish bioprocessing, in Shanghai, China, in March. The Center also offers a full bioprocess development service. The company also plans to launch an Educational Outreach Program for local-university science students.

In March, Oxford Instruments transferred its ownership of Technology and Devices International, which develops HVPE technology, to Ostendo and formed a strategic partnership with Ostendo.

QIAGEN signed an agreement in March with the Bio-X Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to open a joint translational medicine lab in Shanghai, China.

Xylem opened a distribution and customer service base in Moscow, Russia, in March. The company has done business in Russia since 2005 through two local distributors.

In March, Bruker Energy & Super Technologies withdrew its S-1 registration statement with the SEC for an IPO, citing current market conditions.

In April, GE Healthcare acquired SeqWright, a provider of sequencing and other genomic services, stating that the acquisition will complement the genomics capabilities of its Clarient molecular diagnostics unit.

PerkinElmer entered into an agreement in April with Malaysian lab TPM Biotech to explore applications of its Porcine Detection Kits and chromatography solutions for use in validating methods of testing food products for compliance with Halal certification regulations. The lab will also use PerkinElmer chromatography solutions to validate methods of testing food products for the presence of other substances.

HORIBA and China’s Beijing Center for Physical and Chemical Analysis plan to establish a joint R&D center.