Company Announcements

Clontech Laboratories, a subsidiary of Takara Bio, partnered with Vectalys in May to combine its Living Colors fluorescent protein and Tet-On 3G technologies with Vectalys’s expertise in providing ready-to-use lentiviral particles as vectors for gene delivery. The initial product offering will include somatic-cell–reprogramming kits used to generate iPSCs.

Horizon Discovery entered into a license agreement with ERS Genomics to access intellectual property relating to the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system, gaining rights to use the technology for research applications.

In May, MiTeGen signed agreements with MagnetbotiX and NatX-ray for the development and distribution of RodBots noncontact magnetic rolling sample-manipulation technology for crystallization and crystal handling. MiTeGen and NatX-ray also share an exclusive license to the technology as applied to crystallography.

Bio-Techne (Techne) named Harold Wiens, former executive vice president of 3M’s Industrial Business, to its Board in May.

In May, Cancer Genetics acquired India-based BioServe Biotechnologies, a genomic-services provider and molecular-kit manufacturer, for $1.9 million.

In June, Enzyme BioSystems named Gary Rojewski as CEO. He previously worked at Actavis.

Twist Bioscience, the developer of a synthetic-gene-manufacturing process, raised $26 million in a Series B financing round in May. The company also received a $5.1 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

DefiniGEN, a provider of stem cell–research products, raised a total of $3.4 million in Series A funding.

Product Introductions

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals launched in April the NextGEN CRISPR technology, calling it the first truly dimeric RNA-guided Fokl nuclease, eliminating problems with off-site targeting.

Hepregen released its first human HepatoMune micro-liver assay kit.

Cellular Dynamics introduced iCell DopaNeurons, neural floor plated–derived midbrain dopaminergic neurons generated from human iPSCs.

In May, Bio-Rad Laboratories launched its CytoTrack Cell Proliferation Assays, which allow researchers to efficiently stain and track live cells in four colors for up to 10 generations.

Sigma-Aldrich launched high-fidelity Sigma CRISPR paired nickases for precise gene editing.

Affymetrix introduced ViewRNA eZ fully automated in situ hybridization assays for the Leica BOND RX staining platform for research use.

GE Healthcare launched in May Cytiva Plus cardiomyocytes.