Company Announcements 

In December 2016, Molecular Assemblies, developer of a proprietary enzymatic DNA synthesis technology, closed a $2.3 million oversubscribed seed round of financing. Investors included Agilent Technologies.

Neogen announced in December 2016 the resignation of Charles Fischer from its Board for health reasons.

In December 2016, 3-D human tissue provider Organovo signed an exclusive distributor agreement for Japan with Cosmo Bio for its NovoView Preclinical Services.

STEMCELL Technologies announced in December 2016 an exclusive license agreement with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to commercialize its fundamental technology for generating gastrointestinal organoids from PSCs.

Ascendance Biotechnology signed an agreement in December 2016 with GE Healthcare, providing it with the right to manufacture, market and sell the Cytiva brand of human stem cell–derived heart muscle cells used for evaluating potential cardiotoxicity.

Following an agreement with the US Department of Agriculture (see IBO 7/15/16), Santa Cruz Biotechnology ceased sales of polyclonal antibodies as of December 31, 2016.

In January, genome engineering solutions firm Synthego announced that it raised $41 million in Series B financing, bringing the total raised to $50 million. Synthego’s CRISPRevolution synthetic RNA is used for CRISPR genome engineering.

SomaLogic announced in January that it joined China-based iCarbonX’s “Digital Life Alliance” to build a digital health ecosystem for individualized health analysis. SomaLogic will provide proteomics data and applications expertise, and the companies will establish a Chinese joint venture to provide SomaLogic’s SOMAscan proteomics assay for research and health applications. iCarbonX also made an equity investment in SomaLogic.

In January, Illumina announced a collaboration with genomic informatics firm NRGene to accelerate development of new molecular breeding tools for cattle to support global food production.

Meridian Life Science announced in January an agreement to exclusively distribute Microbix-branded antigen products in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Microbix will also provide bulk-finished product to Meridian to sell under the Meridian label to customers in Asia Pacific.

InDevR entered into an agreement in January with the US FDA for licensing monoclonal antibodies, enabling it to consistently manufacture and control the supply of antibodies for use in its potency assays.

In January, Horizon Discovery amended its licensing agreement with ERS Genomics to include the commercial rights for the use of CRISPR-edited cell lines for GMP manufacturing of biotherapeutics. The company also announced a two-year collaboration with instrument firm Solentim to develop an automated manufacturing platform for the genome editing of mammalian cells.

StemBioSys, which provides the HPME (High Performance Micro Environment) advanced stem cell culture system, announced in January a US and Canadian distribution agreement with VWR.

In January, Synthomics, a developer of systems for oligonucleotide synthesis, completed a seed round financing.

In January, CRO Crown Bioscience announced plans to increase its focus on its Life Science division, which sells over one hundred products, including antibodies for in vivo and in vitro studies, recombinant proteins, recombinant cell lines, tumor samples, immune checkpoint antibodies and tumor tissue microarrays. The company forecasts triple-digit growth for the division this year. In connection, Crown Bioscience plans to more than double its offering of recombinant cell lines for important oncology targets and pathways.

Product Introductions

Enzo Life Sciences launched in November 2016 the IL-6 (human) ELISA kit, which is able to detect IL-6 levels down to 0.057 pm/mL, with detection in three hours.

In November 2016, Olink Proteomics introduced three new biomarker panels: Immune Response, Organ Damage and Metabolism. Each panel offers high-throughput immunoassays for simultaneous analysis of 92 protein biomarkers using 1 µL of biological sample.

In December 2016, HumanZyme released Wnt3A, a new addition to its HumanKine authentic recombinant human product line for stem cell research and regenerative medicine applications.

Cellecta launched in December 2016 its new pooled single molecule CRISPR Human Genome-Wide 80K Knockout Library, featuring four sgRNAs per gene. It allows for the study of gene disruptions across the entire human genome in a single screening experiment.

In January, Innova Bioscience introduced the Conjugate Check&Go! Kit, its first lateral flow product specific to antibody labeling, designed for confirmation of successful conjugation.

Eurofins Genomics introduced in January the expansion of its Express Oligo service, which allows US customers to receive their primers in a shorter turnaround time without a price premium or compromise in quality.

Becton, Dickinson released in January the BD Precise WTA (Whole Transcript Analysis) kits, providing an easier method to identify and quantify genetic information in individual cells for genomics-based research. Specialized reagents extract RNA molecules from individual cells and tag each molecule with a “molecular index” to enable researchers to count each individual molecule and attribute the molecule to a specific cell. The kits are optimized for use with the BD FACS flow cytometers.

In January, SCIEX, a Danaher company, introduced the Fast Glycan Labeling and Analysis Kit for quantitative glycan analysis in biopharmaceutical characterization. Average time for sample preparation is one hour for up to 96 separations, and does not require ultra-centrifugtion or advanced pipetting techniques. Analysis uses capillary electrophoresis.

Nucleus Biologics launched in January a high quality feta bovine serum, featuring Farm-to-Flask traceability back to the animals and long-term pricing arrangements.