Company Announcements

Sigma-Aldrich’s BioReliance business named Archie Cullen, former vice president of Sigma-Aldrich SAFC, president in March.

BioReliance agreed to acquire the colonies required for the Big Blue transgenic rodent mutation assay, the first in vivo genetic toxicology mutation assays to be approved by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and obtain a license to the trademark from Agilent Technologies.

According to Waters 2012 SEC 10K filing, in December 2012, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled in favor of Agilent’s appeal related to a 2005 infringement suit brought by Agilent alleging patent infringement by Waters’s Alliance pump. In 2012, Waters recorded a $4 million provision for damages and fees in connection with the litigation.

Techcomp’s 2012 revenues rose 2.3% to $157.7 million (see IBO 2/28/13), as Distribution sales grew 4.6% and Manufacturing sales fell 2.7% to make up 70% and 30% of revenues, respectively. The five-largest customers accounted for 12% of sales. Adjusted operating profit fell 78.2% to $2.6 million due to higher operating expenses. Sales to China increased 2.7% to make up 79% of revenues. Sales in all regions, except France and Switzerland, increased.

In March, the US Department of Justice announced that Corning agreed to pay $5.65 million to resolve claims that it knowingly presented false claims to the US for lab research products sold to federal agencies by its Life Sciences division under a contract through the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program.

Becton, Dickinson and Company appointed Ellen Strahlman, MD, MHSc, to the newly created position of chief medical officer and senior vice president, R&D, effective April 22. Most recently, she worked at GlaxoSmithKline in the office of the CEO as senior medical advisor and global head of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Illumina announced that Dr. Paul C. Grint will retire from its Board.

According to its 2012 SEC 10K filing, Bio-Rad Laboratories identified four significant deficiencies in its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, and that, when aggregated, they constituted a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting as of that date. The four significant deficiencies were: an inadequate accounting close process; an inadequate revenue recognition process; an inadequate reagent rental process at certain international subsidiaries; and inadequate expenditure controls at its German subsidiary. Following an evaluation and assessment, Bio-Rad concluded that the material weakness was not based on quantified mis-statements of historical consolidated financial statements for 2012, but instead on the risk that the company may be unable to prevent, or detect on a timely basis, potential material errors in future financial statements.

The Verder Group appointed Dr. Juergen Pankratz director of its Scientific Division.