A study of success rates of clinical drug development analyzed phase transitions in BioMedTracker from 2003 through 2011, including primary and secondary indications. The data set comprised 4,451 drugs from 835 firms. The “likelihood of approval” (LOA) (the probability of a drug reaching FDA approval from its current phase) was 10.4% for phase 1 to […]

Clean energy investments declined 12.1% last year to $254 billion due to the reduced cost of photovoltaic systems and changes in investor confidence as a result of US and European policy changes. In fact, European investments fell 40.9% to $57.8 billion. China, the largest investor, reduced its investments for the first time in more than […]

Abingdon, England 1/23/14—Oxford Instruments has announced its acquisition of German firm Roentgenanalytik Systeme, a supplier of coating thickness measurement and materials analysis systems using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Oxford Instruments stated that the acquisition substantially expands its range of XRF products and that it will make Roentgenanalytik’s headquarters in Taunusstein, Germany, a center of excellence […]

Beijing, China 1/15/14; Beijing, China 1/20/14; Washington, DC 1/31/14— Thermo Fisher Scientific’s proposed acquisition of Life Technologies (see IBO 4/15/13) has received clearance in the US and China. Stating that the merger would have restricted competition in the cell culture products, sequence-specific primer (SSP) kits, protein standards for SDS-PAGE and siRNA reagent markets, China’s Ministry […]

South San Francisco and Sunnyvale, CA 1/29/14—Fluidigm has definitely agreed to acquire DVS Sciences, a provider of multiparameter single-cell protein analysis systems, for $207.5 million in stock and cash. DVS’s mass cytometry technology includes the CyTOF 2 Mass Cytometer, which analyzers antibody/metal complexes using atomic MS. “We believe the acquisition of DVS will increase Fluidigm’s […]

Vélizy-Villacoublay, France and San Diego, CA 1/30/14—Dassault Systèmes, a publicly held 3-D design software company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Accelrys, a provider of scientific innovation lifecycle management software. Dassault will make an all cash tender offer for Accelys’s outstanding shares at a price of $12.50 per share, a 28.6% premium over the […]