Company Announcements

New England Biolabs (NEB) agreed in October 2011 to distribute the Single Cell Whole Genome Amplification Kit, which uses Rubicon Genomics’ amplification technology. This is the first NEB product targeted at the single-cell amplification market.

WaferGen Biosystems CEO and President Alnoor Shivji resigned in October 2011 but remains chairman. An Office of the President has been formed until a new CEO is hired. Former Helicos BioSciences President Steven Lombardi has been hired as a consultant.

In November 2011, WaferGen Biosystems announced a 24% reduction in its workforce.

Life Technologies agreed in October 2011 to develop a qPCR-based in vitro diagnostic assay for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals’ MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapy candidate, which is currently being evaluated in two Phase III clinical trials. The diagnostic will utilize the Taqman Array Card technology.

Eppendorf licensed patents covering gradient technology for thermal cyclers to Takara Bio in November 2011 and to Analytik Jena and Bibby Scientific in January.

In January, TriLink BioTechnologies entered into a distribution agreement with Sigma-Aldrich to sell its CleanAmp dNTPs globally.

Product Introductions

Promega launched in October 2011 GoTaq Long PCR Master Mix for efficient amplification of up to 40 kb from lambda DNA or 30 kb from human genomic DNA.

Bio-Rad Laboratories introduced the CFX Connect real-time PCR detection system for researchers on a limited budget. It detects two fluorophores per well in duplex experiments and detects SYBR Green or EvaGreen in singleplex environments.

In November 2011, Thermo Fisher Scientific released the 24- and 96-well format Thermo Scientific PikoReal Real-Time PCR Systems with five channels.

3M Food Safety introduced the 3M Molecular Detection System and test kits for detecting dangerous pathogens. They utilize isothermal DNA amplification and bioluminescence detection. The simultaneous amplification and detection process can be completed in 75 minutes.

Eppendorf launched the Mastercycler nexus family of PCR instruments in January 2011. It features a universal block, 12 different temperatures and energy efficiency.

Integrated DNA Technologies released PrimeTime qPCR Primers. The product consists of a pair of premixed primers with enough for 500 2-µL qPCR reactions.

Cepheid’s 2011 revenues grew 30.6% to $277.6 million. Sales of Clinical Systems and Clinical Reagents increased 37.9% and 35.1% to $58.6 million and $177.4 million, respectively. Sales of Non-clinical products declined 10.9% to $29.5 million. Revenues in 2012 are forecast to be $333–$347 million.