Company Announcements

GE Healthcare and Tecan entered into a marketing collaboration for process development applications involving their respective PreDictor 96-well plates and Freedom EVO workstations.

CyBio AG’s 2008 sales fell 13.4% to €16.6 million ($24.4 million) (see page 12). Adjusted for the divestment of CLS (see IBO 11/15/08) and CyBio France, sales rose 106.5%. The EBIT loss was €3.8 million ($5.6 million). CyBio Northern Europe and Japan recorded losses. The company realigned its sales strategy, streamlined management and revised its product portfolio.

RTS Life Sciences’ 2008 revenues declined 6.8% to £6.9 million ($12.5 million) to make up 66% of RTS sales.

BioTek Instruments and Promega announced a collaboration for integration of their respective Precision XS Automated Sample Processor and cell-based assays.

In April, Tecan named three new Board members: Rolf Classon, Dominique F. Baly and Dr. Lukas Braunschweiler. They replace Mike Baronian, Cleto De Pedrini and Dr. Armin Seiler.

TTP LabTech’s fiscal-year sales rose 25% to £9.1 million ($16.5 million). For the first time, revenue from the project business overtook revenue from the custom development business. The company plans to increase R&D by 20%.

Product Introductions

Hudson Control Group launched the VaryScreen I workcell multiassay screening and development system.

EPSON Robots released the RS Spider Robot, a 350 mm Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA).

Paraytec introduced the ActiPix Dissolution Imager, consisting of the ActiPix D-100 UV area imager and a tablet holder, for the quantitative monitoring of a tablet’s surface during dissolution.

Hamilton added third-party integration capabilities to its Microlab Nimbus 96-channel pipetting workstation with the release of software enhancements.

Hamilton introduced a 5 mL channel and disposable tip for the MICROLAB STAR liquid handling workstation.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Varioskan Flash spectral scanning multimode reader was certified for use with Invitrogen’s LanthaScreen assays.

Thermo Fisher Scientific launched the Thermo Scientific Orbitor RS automated microplate mover.

Symyx Technologies Europe introduced the Symyx Screening Pressure Reactor for screening and optimizing catalysts and catalytic processes.

The Automation Partnership launched an Advanced Projects Group for customized automation.

Sales/Orders of Note

In March, the Automation Partnership stated that over 80 Cellmate automated cell culture systems are installed.