India announced its 2015 interim budget, effective until the full budget is presented after May elections. Budgets of all three Ministry of Science and Technology departments will grow. The Department of Science and Technology will receive INR 3,419.00 crore ($553.4 million), rising 31.2%. Of that, INR 794.00 crore will be for Autonomous Institutions & Professional […]

As required by 2012’s Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, the FDA has submitted to Congress a report on premarket notification of changes to 510(k) devices. The agency will largely maintain the present guidance and policy framework and will publish a draft of its revisions for review. The agency will clarify terms in […]

Venture capital investment in the Life Sciences, which includes the Biotechnology and Medical Device industries, decreased in 2013. Biotechnology showed growth, however, with funding increasing 8% to $4,500 million. Numbers of deals, in contrast, decreased by 2% to 470. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Biotechnology investments grew 43% in value to $1,300 million and […]

The FDA will create the Office of Pharmaceutical Quality to better control quality of branded, generic and over-the-counter drugs in the US. The agency and the pharmaceutical industry are determining which of the data currently acquired from inspections can be collected on an ongoing basis to identify drug plants departing from established standards and needing […]

The FDA is proposing nutrition label updates on foods due to changes in scientific knowledge and dietary habits. Besides listing trans fats as of 2006, labels have largely not changed since their 1994 introduction. Proposed changes will be open to public comment and include updating daily values, nutrients listed and serving sizes. Listing amounts of […]

Minneapolis, MN 1/31/14—Techne, a manufacturer of biotechnology products and hematology calibrators and controls, has announced a three-year agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific. Thermo will distribute Techne’s R&D Systems, Tocris and Boston Biochem brand catalog products in the US and Canada through its Fisher Scientific customer channel. Techne will be a Thermo preferred supplier but will […]

Shoreview, MN 2/15/14—Measurement solutions firm TSI has acquired Enwave Optronics’ business assets and Raman spectroscopy technology for an undisclosed sum. Enwave provides handheld, portable, benchtop and process control systems. “Raman technology expends our chemical characterization business so that now we can address molecular-based as well as elemental-based material analysis,” stated TSI President Tom Kennedy. TSI’s […]

New Castle, DE 1/30/14; New Castle, DE 1/30/14; Washington, DC 2/27/14—TA Instruments, a division of Waters, has acquired three companies. In December 2013, TA acquired US-based LaserComp, a manufacturer of thermal conductivity test instruments, including heat flow meters and guarded hot plate systems. The company was purchased for $12 million in cash, according to an […]

Despite continued weakness in industrial markets, revenues for six major publicly traded analytical instrument and lab product businesses grew in the most recently ended quarter, benefitting in part from year-end budget releases and strength in Europe. Sales also climbed for each of the five businesses with fiscal years ending during the period 2013, despite weaker […]