Life Science Consumables
Company Announcements
Bio-Techne announced in its fiscal third quarter conference call that it has created an Indian subsidiary.
MoBiTec announced that it will distribute ABP Biosciences’ products in Germany. ABP specializes in fluorescence labeling and detection technologies.
Gene-based Consumables
Company Announcements
In April, Twist Bioscience added distribution partners in Asia: Recenttec for Japan; DNA Link and its subsidiary LnCBio for Korea; Premas Life Sciences for India; and BioArrow Technology for Hong Kong and Macau.
Mammoth Biosciences launched in April with the announcement of the development of a CRISPR-enabled platform capable of detecting any biomarker or disease containing DNA or RNA using CRISPR technology licensed exclusively from the University of California. The company will initially focus on health care applications, with the aim of transforming diagnostic testing across the care continuum from hospital and point-of-care settings to at-home testing. The first application to be explored will be disease detection.
In April, MilliporeSigma received a patent for its CRISPR technology in China, the seventh such country. The patent covers integration of an external DNA sequence into the chromosome of eukaryotic cells.
In May, MilliporeSigma announced a collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis that could lead to the optimizing of nutritional supplements to restore a healthy gut microbial community (microbiome). Under the two-year collaboration, Dr. Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University School of Medicine will employ MilliporeSigma’s CRISPR genome editing technology in research studies.
In May, the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences awarded BellBrook Labs a $1 million phase II Small Business Innovative Research grant to develop new assays to detect cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) levels in biological samples. The new assays will provide direct in-well detection of cGAMP in cell lysates to enable basic cellular research and screening for modulators of the cGAS-STING pathway.
Horizon Discovery announced that Dr. Jonathan Milner stepped down from its Board in May. He owns 8% of Horizon Discovery’s issued share capital and 10% of Abcam’s. Abcam made a bid to acquire Horizon Discovery earlier this year (see IBO 5/15/18).
In June, Agilent Technologies launched a new range of probes to interpret gene expression data from FISH and chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH), including (ASR) EBER RNA CISH and Kappa and Lambda mRNA CISH probes. Agilent expects the new probes to help drive oligonucleotide-based in situ hybridization into more research labs.
Product Introductions
In April, QIAGEN introduced the real time PCR–based QIAstat-Dx multiplex system, providing a one-step, fully integrated molecular analysis of common syndromes as tested for in syndromes in infections, oncology and other disease.
In June, Synthego debuted its Engineered Cells Portfolio. announcing immediate access to Knockout Clone and Pool products, and Advanced Cells products. Knockout Clone and Pool enables single-click online ordering of any human cell line with a guaranteed CRISPR knockout. Knockout Cell Pools can be delivered in as few as 4 weeks and Knockout Cell Clones are delivered in as little as 8 weeks.
Sales and Orders of Note
Scienion announced in May that Unisensor has set up its biostick manufacturing process using its sciFLEXARRAYER technology. Unisensor uses the technology to produce the multiplex biosticks for its unique Extenso milk analysis platform. Extenso can simultaneously detect 100 antibiotic residues and toxins in diary products in a single test in only 13 minutes.
Cell-based Consumables
Company Announcements
MIMETAS, a provider of organ-on-a-chip products and tissue models, secured $20.5 million in April as part of a Series B financing round.
In April, Qkine, a specialist manufacturer of proteins that are used for control of stem cell growth and differentiation, closed a seed investment round.
Porvair Sciences announced in April a collaboration with Persomics to develop and supply ANSI/SLAS-format arrays as an OEM product for Persomics’ ImagineArray. The Persomics ImagineArray, platform replaces traditional microplate wells with contact-printed spots on a slide which is mounted into an SLAS/ANSI-format frame.
In May, BIOSERA, a provider of serum and cell media products, entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Alliance Global for the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
In May, Greiner Bio-One North America acquired the magnetic 3D cell culture technology that it previously distributed from Nano 3D Biosciences.
In a fiscal third quarter SEC filing, Bio-Techne reported a purchase price of approximately $51.3 million, net of cash acquired, for Atlanta Biologicals and its affiliated company Scientific Ventures (see IBO 1/15/18).
Emulate formed a collaboration with AstraZeneca’s Innovative Medicines and Early Development (IMED) Biotech Unit in May to embed its Organs-on-Chips technology within the laboratories of the IMED Drug Safety organization. The companies initially began collaborating in 2013. The terms of the agreement also allow for the technology to be adopted across AstraZeneca’s therapeutic areas and will enable the development of functionality of three other Emulate Organ-Chips—the Lung Tumor–Chip, Lung-Chip and Glomerulus Kidney–Chip.
In June, FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics entered into an exclusive patent license agreement with the University of California–Irvine (UCI) to license and commercialize UCI’s technologies for derivation of microglia in the commercial research field and also a nonexclusive patent license agreement to commercialize microglia media formulation. The technology enables the company to differentiate pluripotent stem cells into microglia cells, a brain cell type that plays a critical role in preserving the function of the brain.
Protein-based Consumables
Company Announcements
In May, Abcam signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term collaborative strategic partnership with Shuwen Biotech, a leading player in the development and commercialization of companion diagnostics.
Synthetic antibody firm MIP Diagnostics announced in May that it has secured £1.5 million ($2.0 million) in funding. The company plans to double its staff to 10.
In May, VolitionRx entered into a global sales and distribution agreement with Active Motif for a range of its RUO kits. The kits are based on its Nucleosomics technology for exploring epigenetic modifications in circulating cell–free nucleosomes across different diseases from clinical samples.
Product Introductions
In April, AYOXXA Biosystems expanded its catalogue of kits for fully scalable multiplex protein analysis with the introduction of the LUNARIS Human 12-Plex Th17 Kit for the quantitative validation of soluble pro-inflammatory T helper 17 cell–related markers. LUNARIS kits are based on a classical sandwich immunoassay principle with fluorescence readout.
In April, SYGNIS launched 2view, a unique Western blot detection method, under its Expedeon brand name. 2view secondary antibodies are labeled simultaneously with a visible (InnovaCoat GOLD nanoparticles) and proprietary chemiluminescent enzymatic detection system. The gold nanoparticles enable fast visible detection at nanogram level, and the enzymatic detection mechanism enhances sensitivity down to picogram levels of protein.
Bio-Rad Laboratories launched in May the Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine Screening Panel for the identification and quantification of 48 different analytes. It features the ability to probe both endogenous and diseased/treated samples with a single assay across a broad range of targets. The panel consists of adaptive immunity cytokines, proinflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines, all in a single well.
In May, Bio-Rad Laboratories released a range of anti-vedolizumab antibodies to support research into the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Also in May, Bio-Rad Laboratories debuted a range of anti-idiotypic antibodies targeting the immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo).
Meridian Bioscience announced in May the availability of critical antigens and antibodies for Nipah virus immunological assay development.
In June, VICAM, a Waters company, introduced the Zearala-V AQUA, a user friendly lateral flow strip test to accurately detect and measure zearalenone at levels from 0.1–5.0 ppm.
Sengenics launched in June the IMMUNOME v4 Discovery Array and CTA (cancer testis antigens) Array. Both utilize KREX functional proteomics technology that ensures that only correctly folded, functional proteins are immobilized to the microarray surface.
