Broad Based Companies
Company Announcements
Roche Applied Science opened an Application Support Center in Shanghai, China, in May.
Thermo Fisher Scientific named two new directors in May: Thomas J. Lynch, CEO of Tyco Electronics, and Tyler Jacks, PhD, David H. Koch professor of Biology at MIT.
MDS Analytical Technologies appointed Bio-Strategy as its new distributor for Australia and New Zealand, starting in June.
Mr. W. Lawrence Banks retired from the Board of Roper Industries in June in accordance with the company’s mandatory director-retirement policy.
CareFusion, a spin off from Cardinal Health’s clinical and medical products business, named Gregory Lucier, chairman and CEO of Life Technologies, to its Board.
Oxford Instruments Superconductivity reported fiscal 2009 sales for the year ended March 31 grew 16.0% to £74.7 million ($126.5 million) (see IBO 6/15/09). Operating profit was flat at £2.0 million ($3.4 million). Within the segment, the Superconducting Wire business reported record revenue, sales for the MRI Service business were steady, and sales for Austin Scientific declined 6%. Due to a change in emphasis, the Molecular Biotools business was renamed Magnetic Resonance.
Millipore opened an over 30,000 square-foot Bioprocess manufacturing facility in Danvers, Massachusetts, in June, that is expected to employ 120 by the end of the year.
Millipore named Ram Ramakrishnan vice president, Strategy and Corporate Development, in June. Previously, he was senior vice president, Growth, at Pentair.
MDS Analytical Technologies’ second-quarter sales for the quarter ended April 30 fell 26.3%, including a negative currency impact of 9%, to $87 million (see IBO 6/15/09). End-user revenue was down 13%, including an 11% decline in MS end-user revenue. Drug Discovery and Bioresearch product revenue fell 18%. Operating loss increased to $7 million from $4 million a year ago. A restructuring plan initiated in the first quarter is expected to impact 200 employees and generate $7 million in annual savings.
Product Introductions
In June, Sigma-Aldrich introduced a Services Network to provide lab services for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Access is provided through a centralized web site and services are provided by Sigma-Aldrich and certified partners on an as-needed basis.
Agilent launched the Functional Verification Service for Agilent GC and LC users who want to demonstrate systems maintenance, test quality and calibration.
Sales/Orders of Note
In May, Japan’s National Police Agency purchased 52 Thermo Scientific LXQ linear ion trap MS systems and 27 Thermo Scientific Nicolet 6700 FT-IR spectrometers with Continuµm microscopes