Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is experiencing strong growth due to technological improvements. Security and safety applications are the major areas of use for portable FT-IR, but there are also significant niche and recently established markets. Numerous new instruments combined with the relatively small market size point to strong continued growth in demand for the […]

Company Announcements Biotage AB expanded its outsourcing collaboration with PartnerTech, which will take over most instrument manufacturing. Running initially through 2011, the agreement is worth approximately SEK 40 million ($5 million) annually. Manufacturing will be relocated from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Åtvidaberg, Sweden. Syrris reported 80% growth in the first half of 2009. Syrris incorporated its […]

Product Introductions Advanced Chemistry Development released the ACD/NMR Workbook with NMRSync Technology, which reduces the time required to interpret and assign 1D and 2D NMR data. It is available with ACD/Labs Version 12. In May, Varian introduced the Discovery MR901 pre-clinical 7T magnetic resonance imaging system, featuring Varian’s small-bore imaging technology and a clinical front […]

Company Announcements GeneGo and OmicSoft integrated their respective MetaCore pathway analysis platform and Array Studio. Accelrys’s fiscal 2009 revenues for the year ended March 31 rose 1.6% to $81.0 million. Operating loss decreased from $855,000 in the previous year to $319,000 (see IBO 6/15/09). US sales rose 0.5%, European sales fell 1.6% and Asia-Pacific sales […]

Company Announcements In April, a class action complaint was filed in federal court in Maryland against the Republic of Iraq, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific (previously Oxoid) and Alcolac (whose assets are owned by Rhodia). The suit alleges violation of the Geneva Convention, UN Security Council resolutions and international law, as well as negligence, strict liability, […]

Organized by the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute (SEMI), Semicon West was held this year from July 14 to 16 in San Francisco. Preliminary visitor attendance for the show was 16,700, a 2% decrease from last year. Like last year (see IBO 7/31/08), the trade show was held in conjunction with Intersolar North America, which […]

Company Announcements Micromeritics announced in March the acquisition of TA Instruments’ high-pressure volumetric analyzer product line, which TA acquired when it bought VTI. Setaram announced a distribution agreement for ACL Instruments’ range of chemiluminescence analysis systems for the study of oxidative effects for aging, stability and the high-precision calculation of shelf life. Following the default […]

A new program coordinated by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office Africa and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief seeks to accelerate the accreditation process for African laboratories. Volunteers from the American Society of Clinical Pathology and the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative will train lab workers for accreditation in an effort to improve lab […]

Thailand’s food safety testing equipment market grew 4% last year to $377 million. Over the next three years, the market is estimated to grow 3%, driven by demand for diagnostic or lab reagents, lab instruments (including protein and fat analyzers, gas analyzers, incubators, freezers, microscopes, physical and chemical analysis instruments, lab sterilizers) and floating meters […]

A new pilot program implemented by the National Health Service’s (NHS) Department of Health will train NHS scientists in genetic testing, including diagnostic tests and tests for prescription drugs. The scientists will then be able to advise doctors and their patients on DNA testing choices and the interpretation of test results. The £4.5 million ($7.4 […]