Company Announcements

Takara Bio granted QIAGEN GmbH a license in April to make, use and sell LA PCR–related products.

QIAGEN NV acquired rights in May to 70 real time PCR–based molecular food safety tests developed by the Institute for Product Quality. The first kits will be available in the fourth quarter. The company plans to expand the portfolio to 70 tests by 2012.

Exiqon A/S and MultiD Analyses AB announced a development and distribution agreement for their respective miRNA qPCR platform and GeneEx qPCR analysis software.

Roche and Exiqon A/S agreed in July to jointly market their respective RealTime ready assays and miRCURY LNA Universal RT microRNA qPCR system.

WaferGen Biosystems named Takeda Rika Kogyo its exclusive distributor for Japan.

NuGEN named Takara Bio as a distributor for Japan, South Korea and China.

Agilent and Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) partnered in June to combine Agilent’s Mx3005P qPCR system and Brilliant qPCR reagents with IDT’s PrimeTime qPCR assays.

On July 1, Roche Applied Science’s Industrial Business relaunched under the name Roche Custom Biotech.

Idaho Technology signed a licensing agreement, effective June 18, with DuPont’s Qualicon business covering reagents or methods using SYBR Green I technology and post-PCR melting-curve analysis.

DuPont announced a collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture to develop a test for detecting hard-to-identify strains of toxin-producing E. coli that are not currently regulated.

Product Introductions

Fluidigm introduced the FC1 Cycler, which is designed to reduce thermal-cycling time by a factor of three compared with the company’s previous products.

NuGEN launched the Encore NGS Library/Multiplex Systems and Ovation 3′-DGE System.

WaferGen released the SmartChip Human MicroRNA Panel and the SmartChip Human Oncology Gene Panel.

In August, WaferGen introduced the SmartChip Real-Time PCR System for discovery and validation of biomarkers, or gene expression patterns, on a single platform. The SmartChip contains 5,184 preloaded nano-wells. Also available are the Nanodispenser, the Multisample Nanodispenser and the Cycler.

Idaho Technology launched the Carousel Centrifuge and Workflow Center for speeding up and simplifying the sample handling and setup time for the R.A.P.I.D. LT Food Security System.

Promega released the GoTaq 2-Step RT-qPCR System for improved sensitivity and flexibility.