Company Announcements

For the fiscal year ending July 31, Enzo Biochem’s Life Sciences Products sales were flat at $29.2 million, or 28% of total revenues (see IBO 10/31/18), as royalty income and US sales declined. The company continues to migrate its Life Sciences business from a provider of research products to a developer of lower-cost diagnostic products. The company reported cash and cash equivalents of $60.0 million.

In October, Stream Bio named CliniSciences and Biotrend as distributors for France and Germany, respectively, for its Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles, which are fluorescent, non‑toxic nanoparticles for bioimaging.

Gene-based Analysis

Company Analysis

In October, LuminUltra acquired acqu-tools’ Rapid Microbial Solutions division, which supplies the B-QUA product for ballast water compliance monitoring and measures biomass of three micro-organisms. LuminUltra also assumed responsibility for the sale of acqu-tool’s second generation ATP (adenosine triphosphate) measurement products in Europe.

ERS Genomics licensed its CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing IP to Syngulon, a synthetic biology company developing anti-microbial peptides, in October for use in combination with Syngulon Patent Rights.

In November, ERS Genomics licensed access to its CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology patents to DefiniGEN, provider of a stem cell production platform, for combination with DefiniGEN’s iPSC differentiation platform.

In October, the National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg and Protagen announced a collaboration to utilize Protagen’s Cancer Immunotherapy Array to identify biomarkers that predict therapeutic response and the incidence of immune-related adverse events in urothelial carcinoma patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors.

Synthego, which provides genome editing tools, closed a $110 million Series C investment in October led by Founders Fund.

In November, Synthego named Eurofins Genomics as a distributor of its sgRNA products.

In October, Twist Bioscience named Ray Tabibiazar, MD, as senior vice president of Corporate Development and Business Strategy, as well as acting general manager of Twist Bioscience’s division focused on biologics drug discovery. He previously worked as an advisor to the company and was previously chairman of Aravive Biologics.

Twist Bioscience named Jan Johannessen to its Board in November. Previously, he served as CEO of semiconductor firm Conexant Systems.

LGC Biosearch Technologies exclusively licensed in October Co-Diagnostics’ CoPrimer technology for research and commercial applications. A joint development project tested the PCR-based technology in multiplexed reactions for locating specific genetic traits in seed products and genetic mutations, including SNP detection.

In October, XCR Diagnostics licensed its Xtreme Chain Reaction nucleic acid amplification technology to Luminex. The technology enables extremely rapid thermal cycling protocols.

Ncardia, which provides human iPSC­–based solutions for drug safety and efficacy screening, partnered with Horizon Discovery in October to provide custom genetically modified and differentiated human iPSCs for drug discovery researchers. Ncardia will market and sell the products and services.

Horizon Discovery appointed of Margarita Krivitski, vice president at ValueAct Capital Management, to its Board in November. ValueAct holds a 13% stake in Horizon Discovery.

In November, gene editing technology firm Inscripta named Jason T. Gammack as its first chief commercial officer. He was most recently vice president of QIAGEN’s life science business area.

DNA Script, an enzymatic DNA synthesis company, created a US subsidiary in November.

In November, Oxford Gene Technology, a Sysmex company, expanded direct sales of its Cytocell FISH products to include Asia Pacific.

Product Introductions

In October, PathogenDx introduced PDx-Quant, calling it the first quantitative microarray-based test for microbial testing of cannabis.

QIAGEN launched in October in Europe its next generation QIAstat-Dx panel for one-step, fully integrated molecular analysis of gastrointestinal syndromes. The panel can now detect the 24 most common viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens. The test is CE-IVD marked, and the company expects US FDA approval in 2019.

In November, ThermaGenix released FASTFISHID, a low-cost, portable PCR test for the authentication of commercial fish species. The test is fully compatible with the FDA-approved “DNA Barcoding Method for the Species Identification.”

Sarstedt debuted in November low-profile PCR strips, also known as 0.1 mL PCR strips, for so-called fast PCR thermocyclers (0.1 mL block format).

Cell-based Analysis

Company Announcements

In November, InDevR, a Sartorius company, announced it is pursuing proof-of-concept development  sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for new VaxArray potency assays for measles and rubella (MR) vaccines. The long-term objective is to create IV measles and rubella potency assays in order to deliver high-quality MR vaccines to market faster and with lower production costs.

Product Introductions

In November, ibidi introduced the mRNA LifeActTagGFP2, a rapid, noninvasive and nontoxic solution for the visualization of filamentous actin (Factin) in living and fixed eukaryotic cells.

Protein-based Analysis

Company Announcements

In October, Bio-Techne entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with China-based Micropoint Bioscience, a developer of a microfluidic diagnostic chip for point-of-care testing. The companies will develop solutions for monitoring patients’ responses to cancer immunotherapy and identifying potential adverse effects, such as the cytokine release syndrome.

In November, GeneTex, a research antibody manufacturer, partnered with BenchSci, a life science machine learning startup backed by Google‘s AI fund. BenchSci will use machine learning to identify published data for individual GeneTex products in open- and closed-access datasets, display related published figures and allow researchers to search using important experimental variables.

Product Introductions

In October, Charm Sciences released the MycoTube Portable Aflatoxin Screening test, calling it the only five minute field test for detection of aflatoxin in grains and feed.

In November, Ultivue, a developer of reagent-driven strategies for high-performance biological imaging in situ, expanded the capabilities of its proprietary InSituPlex DNA-barcoding and staining technology, which now supports a 9-color/8-marker whole-slide, a single staining step multiplexing assay for multiplexed detection and quantification of markers in tissue samples.