Company Announcements

Fluidigm named Steven C. McPhail as general manager of its Production Genomics Business in May. He previously served as president and CEO of Expression Analysis. The company also announced its plans to register as a medical device manufacturer with the US FDA, list certain of its products as FDA Class 1 devices and expand its CE mark, within the next 12 months.

Agilent Technologies announced on its fiscal second quarter conference call that it acquired Cartagenia (see IBO 5/15/15) for €60 million ($67 million).

For the fiscal second quarter ending April 30, sales for Agilent Technologies Diagnostics and Genomics grew 0.6%, 10% excluding currency, to $169 million to account for 18% of revenues (see IBO 5/31/15). Growth was driven by Dako and the nucleic acid business, as well as delayed orders in the fiscal first quarter. European sales climbed 16% excluding currency, followed by growth of 8% and 1% in the Americas and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), respectively. Japanese sales fell 19% excluding currency. Orders grew 5% excluding currency to $168 million. Segment adjusted operating profit fell roughly 3% to $25 million.

In June, Agilent Technologies gave Dr. Arturo Keller, director of the Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology at the University of California, Santa Barbara an Agilent Thought Leader Award in support of his research on the use and environmental consequences of nanoparticles in agriculture.

Affymetrix named Riccardo Pigliucci to its Board effective May 13. He is managing partner of Aldwych Associates.

In May, QIAGEN opened a new principal office in Malaysia. The company entered the country in 2006 by acquiring Research Biolab Malaysia.

The Shimadzu Analytical Innovation Research Laboratory, inaugurated in May at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Engineering. Research focuses on metabolomics, with the lab initially engaged in the R&D of data analysis platforms based on MS. The lab uses Shimadzu GC/MS, LC/MS and SFC/MS systems and imaging mass microscopes.

In 2014, Eppendorf sales grew 5.7% to €531.1 million ($708.1 million) on a reported (see IBO 5/31/15) and adjusted basis. Excluding currency, sales in Europe, North/South America and Asia Pacific/Africa grew 6.9%, 7.4% and 1.2% to account for 41%, 36% and 24% of revenues, respectively. Operating profit declined 0.9% to €100.9 million ($134.5 million).

Product Introductions

In May, Agilent Technologies announced new service solutions as part of its CrossLab portfolio of services, supplies and software: laboratory business intelligence reporting, RFID inventory management services and laboratory asset utilization services.