The results of industry group France Biotech’s Life Science Panorama 2010 survey emphasize the emergence of a second generation of—and government support for—biotech firms in the medtech, environmental and renewable energy sectors. The analysis, released March 30, includes responses from 211 companies and reveals that despite increases in fund raising and staff in 2010, 33% […]

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao stressed the importance of streamlining government science funding in his annual report at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in March. Funding for Chinese researchers is currently dependent on how many of their publications are found in Thomson Reuters’ Science Citation Index and the influence of the journals in which they […]

Western oil companies are divesting their refineries after a decades-long slump that has led to prolonged overcapacity and, thus, weak margins. Refining margins, which reached a high of $4.50 a barrel, are now 10% of that and declining, and are expected to remain weak in the future. Weak margins, however, are not discouraging state-owned and […]

The US leads the world in research but is expected to face competition in the future, according to the Royal Society’s 2011 Knowledge, Networks & Nations report. The report used information compiled from an April 2010 survey, a discussion session, interviews, secondary research and data analysis to examine the changing landscape of science and innovation. […]

An agreement, or “continuing resolution,” for the fiscal 2011 budget was reached by President Obama and leaders of the Democratic Senate and Republican House of Representatives. The budget cuts funding for science agencies across the board, but much less so than the initial budget approved by the House of Representatives in February would have. Science […]

Atomic Spectrometry LECO introduced two elemental analyzers for applications involving metals, alloys and other inorganic samples: the CS844 for carbon/sulfur measurements and the ONH836 for measuring oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. Improvements in the combustion furnace, detector systems and cleaning automation have been combined with touch-screen control. The CS844 is priced at $65,000 and began shipment […]

For the third quarter, the IBO Lab Equipment/Consumables Index grew 2.4%, or 3.6% excluding currency. Operating profit improved 3.2%, and operating margins gained 10 basis points to 17.3% of sales. Fourth-quarter Index sales were flat, but grew 1.0% excluding currency to $4,030.02 million. Operating profit increased 3.6% to $691.05 million, and operating margins improved 40 […]

London, UK 4/5/11; London, UK 4/11/11—Microsaic Systems has raised £4.0 million ($6.5 million = £0.62 = $1) through an institutional placing in connection with its public listing on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market on April 11. Microsaic is the developer of the Microsaic 3500 MID, a chip-based MS system. The company placed 12.5 million […]

Peabody, MA 4/6/11—JEOL USA, the US subsidiary of Japanese-based JEOL, officially announced the formation, effective April 1, of JEOL Resonance, a joint venture company with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) for the development of NMR instruments (see IBO 2/15/11). JEOL Resonance will collaborate with research institutes, universities and suppliers. Additional funding for the […]

Vienna, Austria 4/1/11—Lab supply and distribution company VWR International has agreed to acquire the safety products distribution business of Trenka Industriebedarf Handelsgesellschaft. Financial details were not disclosed. Located in Vienna, Austria, Trenka distributes industrial clothing, testing equipment and personal protection equipment to customers in Austria. “Trenka’s product portfolio allows VWR to offer a broader selection […]