Company Announcements

Syngene appointed Varelas SA as its Greek distributor in July.

Applied Biosystems added InteRNA Genomics BV and Biotique Systems to its Software Development Community for the SOLiD System.

In July, in vivo imaging firm VisEn Medical received $3.5 million in venture debt financing from GE Healthcare Financial Services.

Genomic Vision, which is developing a technique for the direct visualization of single DNA molecules, announced in July that it raised $6.3 million in a series B financing round.

Shimadzu and Seegene entered into a strategic partnership in which they will combine their respective MultiNA electrophoresis system and multipathogen PCR-based multipathogen tests.

Under a joint development agreement announced in July, STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG will automate Maven Biotechnology’s LFIRE label-free detection methods using Greiner Bio-One GmbH’s disposable technology to create a label-free detection system for real-time kinetic analysis for research and diagnostics.

Fujifilm Life Science entered into a collaboration agreement with Dr. David Myszka and Biosensor Tools to develop new applications and proof-of-principle testing for its AP-3000 surface plasmon resonance system.

In August, Sequenom certified McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Center as its first Center of Excellence for genotyping technology.

Helicos BioSciences is collaborating with Uppsala University to utilize its True Single Molecule Sequencing technology to investigate changes in the cell nucleus that occur in the presence of growth factors.

BioTrove opened its first European office in London, England, in August.

Product Introductions

Trevigen introduced the Comet Assay Electrophoresis System for the direct detection of DNA damage in cells. It includes CometSlides, reagents, control cells and a gel electrophoresis unit.

Cambridge Research & Instrumentation announced that MDS Analytical Technologies’ MetaMorph software now supports its Nuance multispectral imaging system.

Applied Biosystems released new software tools for its SOLiD System, including a whole genome color space alignment and read annotation tool and a tool for converting SOLiD data into a community-driven standard for National Center for Biotechnology Information submission (short read format).

TTP LabTech introduced the RAPid 4 label-free system that was formerly offered by Akubio (see IBO 5/15/08).

GE Healthcare launched the eXplore CT 120 scanner for preclinical computed tomography imaging.