San Diego, CA 10/6/11—Illumina has announced that it expects third-quarter revenues of $235 million. This figure would be a 1% decrease year over year and an 18% decline from the second quarter. The company attributed the forecast to: uncertainty about US and European research-funding levels that resulted in purchasing delays for both instruments and consumables; […]

Two recent announcements by Thermo Fisher Scientific illustrate the company’s commitment to its diagnostics business. Diagnostics is not a new market for the company but, as the news made clear, it is one in which the company has a solid position and one for which it is investing in research. Revenue for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s […]

Instrument and laboratory product company executives hold divergent opinions on the industry outlook for the next six months and related issues, according to the latest IBO Business Climate Survey. The survey is conducted twice yearly. This season’s survey of IBO subscribers was conducted anonymously via a webpage questionnaire during late September and early October. Twenty-five […]

Stockholm, Sweden 9/2/11—Perten Instruments, a provider of quality control systems for food, has acquired TexVol Instruments. TexVol Instruments supplies volume-measuring instruments and texture-analysis systems. “The complimentary nature of the instrument ranges from Perten Instruments and TexVol Instruments allows us to deliver a wider range of analytical solutions to our customers from a single source,” said […]

Aubagne, France, Goettingen, Germany and Chalfont St. Giles, UK 9/12/11—Sartorius Stedim Biotech and GE Healthcare Life Sciences have signed a patent cross-licensing agreement for biotechnology manufacturing technologies. Sartorius has granted GE a sublicense to certain patents exclusively licensed from Fluorometrix that involve bioreactors with at least two optical sensors. GE has granted Sartorius a sublicense […]

Tokyo, Japan 9/28/11—Sony has announced the acquisition of Micronics, a provider of microfluidics technology for diagnostic applications, including point-of-care solutions, and research applications. The main focus of the company recently has been a molecular diagnostic platform for infectious diseases, according to Sony. “We believe that the combination of Micronics’ development capabilities in the medical diagnosis […]

Washington, DC 9/20/11—In a filing with the SEC, sequencer firm Pacific Biosciences announced the layoff of 130 employees, or 28% of its workforce. The company stated that the action was taken because of “uncertainties associated with the economic environment and to position the company for long-term success.” The reductions, which should be completed this month, […]

The second of IBO’s biannual new laboratory roundup indicates that new academic and consumer product labs, as well as labs in the Middle East, are being built or expanded. Many of these labs involve cross-disciplinary functions. The table on page 3 highlights plans for new academic, clean energy and contract research organization labs. In the […]

It is just six months since Pittcon, and IBO’s last review article on new product introductions (see IBO 3/31/11, 4/15/11), and already there is a new and lengthy list of notable new products. In this article, IBO highlights some of the product launches of the last six months based on their potential commercial and technical […]