Company Announcements

Chip-Man Technologies appointed Ionovation GmbH as its German distributor.

Nanion Technologies GmbH announced in April that a European Patent Office’s (EPO) Board of Appeal overturned a decision to uphold EP No. 1 040 349 owned by Molecular Devices, stating the patent must be amended to exclusively describe a positioning method using electrical fields produced by voltages between -200 and 200 mV.

Molecular Devices announced in May that the EPO upheld its foundational planar patch clamp patent (EP No. 1 040 349 B1) and that the decision cannot be appealed. The company stated that the EPO found the patent to be novel and inventive with an amended set of method claims.

Beckman Coulter entered into a strategic alliance in June to distribute CaridianBCT cell therapy products to pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and clinical trial organizations. The company will distribute: the Quantum Cell Expansion Systems, which automates the cell expansion process; the COBE 2991 Cell Processor, which washes and concentrates cell populations; and the Elutra Cell Separation System, which purifies cell populations.

Cyntellect named Saiid Zarrabian president and CEO in June. He was previously president and COO of Synomyx. He replaces Fred Koller, PhD, who will serve as CTO.

In July, Accuri Cytometers completed a $6 million Series E preferred stock financing, stating that the proceeds will support entry into the in vitro diagnostics market.

Axion BioSystems, developer of multielectrode array technology, raised $2.1 million in July.

Product Introductions

SRU Biosystems introduced the BIND SCANNER for primary and stem cell applications. A plate-based, label-free instrument, it can monitor cellular responses at an individual-cell resolution.

Lonza AG launched the 4D-Nucleofector System for the nonviral transfection of various cell numbers with the same conditions.

Hamamatsu introduced the FDSSµCELL imaging-based plate reader, which is optimized for fluorescent kinetic assays using calcium and membrane potential dyes.

Ibidi GmbH released the µ-Slide Chemotaxis 3D, a chamber for chemotaxis and migration studies of nonadherent cells in 3D gel matrices.

Furukawa Electric launched the PERFLOW Sort flow cytometer, calling it the first cell sorter for analyzing and sorting living cells that does not damage cells. Sales will begin in October.

Bionas GmbH introduced the adcon reader for impedance-based cellular analysis.

Bionas GmbH launched the 15002 RtU-Transporter system for the analysis of membrane transport mechanisms and their role in multidrug resistance. It measures impedance, oxygen consumption and acidification.