As IBO reported in its November 30 issue, Agilent Technologies’ Bio-Analytical Measurement business (BAM) revenues grew 14% in fiscal 2008 ended October 31 to $2,295 million. From the recent filing of SEC documents for the fiscal year, additional information is now available about the business’s fiscal year. Excluding acquisitions, which contributed 2% growth, and the […]

According to Battelle and R&D Magazine, R&D spending worldwide will increase by approximately 3.2% next year to $1,140 billion, excluding inflation. US R&D spending is estimated to increase 1.75% to $383.5 billion, excluding inflation. Including the effects of inflation, US R&D spending is forecasted to decline 1.6%, as federal government funding falls 1.9% and industrial […]

Company Announcements Organic revenues for Merck KGaA’s Life Science Solutions business increased 13% in the second quarter and 8.0% in the third quarter. Sigma-Aldrich exclusively licensed boronic acid surrogates for use in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and will offer MIDA synthons for sale. The technology enables the efficient construction of […]

The EU has adopted a new toy safety directive designed to update regulations. A toy, as defined by the directive, is a product with which children under 14 play. Manufacturers are charged with ensuring a toy in safe prior to sale. A total of 55 allergenic fragrances are now banned from use in toys. In […]

Company Announcements Alpha Innotech extended its OEM agreement with GE Healthcare, signing a five-year strategic supplier alliance agreement. GWC Technologies appointed Cybeles Life Science as a distributor for Southeast Asia. ForteBio closed $25 million in Series C financing, led by OrbiMed Advisors, in September. Integrated DNA Technologies entered into an exclusive copromotional agreement with 454 […]

Cambridge, MA 12/19/08—Helicos BioSciences, a developer of DNA sequencing technology, has announced an agreement to raise approximately $18.6 million through a private placement sale of its common stock and warrants. Net proceeds are expected to be $17.9 million. Earlier this month, the company announced cost reduction measures (see IBO 12/15/08). Purchasers include current investors such […]

A new survey by KPMG and the Semiconductor Industry Association finds that semiconductor companies do not expect an industry recovery any time soon. The November survey interviewed 85 senior executives at device, foundry and fabless companies. Fifty-two percent of the executives expect revenues to decrease and 69% expect profitability to decline over the next year […]

Lucerne, Switzerland 12/2/08—Following the sale of its Beverage business and the pending sale of its Real Estate business, Swiss-listed Eichhof Group AG will change its name to Datacolor AG, its Color Management business, early next year and become a dedicated supplier of colorimeters and other color management products (see IBO 8/15/08). The company has also […]

Austria’s transformation of its R&D system over the last decade has attracted the attention of France, Spain and the Czech Republic, which are each following Austria’s model in hopes of attracting new R&D investments. This year, the country’s R&D spending as a percentage of GDP is expected to be 2.68%, compared to 1.8% 10 years […]