According to a March report from the Eurydice Network, part of the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency, the financial crisis has led to educational (defined as primary, secondary, tertiary and adult education) budget cuts in 20 European countries/regions for which data was available in 2011 and 2012. However, nine countries increased their […]

According to the International Energy Agency, the world is making little progress in producing cleaner energy. Despite the development of cleaner energy sources and more energy efficient technologies, the use of fossil fuels and coal continues to dominate. Renewables accounted for 19% of electricity generation in 2012. Among renewables, solar photovoltaic capacity grew 42% to […]

Revenues for 598 publicly held biotech companies grew 8.1% last year to $89.8 billion, compared to 10% in 2011. R&D expenditures increased 5.4% to $25.3 billion, compared to 9% in 2011. Revenues from US public firms increased 8.3% to $63.7 billion, and R&D spending grew 7.3% to $19.3 billion. In 2011, US public firms’ sales […]

In 2012, domestic and foreign R&D spending by members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) declined for the second year in a row to $48,485 million, a 0.3% decrease. Domestic expenditures increased 1.2%, and spending abroad dropped 4.9% to account for 76% and 24% of PhRMA members’ R&D spending, respectively. As a […]

Wetzlar, Germany and São Paulo, Brazil 4/23/13—Leica Microsystems and Leica Biosystems have acquired Aotec Instrumentos Cientificos, their Brazilian distributor for more than 25 years. “Brazil is a very important market. Through this acquisition we are developing our business further and invest into the service to our customers,” commented Jürgen Kress, senior sales director, High Growth […]

New York, NY 4/16/13—Bloomberg reported that Sigma-Aldrich was among the bidders for Life Technologies (see IBO 4/15/13), offering around $12.5 billion for the company. Sigma planned to sell the sequencer business if it acquired Life in order to help fund the transaction, according to the report. Sigma held talks with Roche and Agilent Technologies regarding […]

Santa Barbara, CA and Bergisch Gladbach, Germany 4/23/13—Biomedical research product provider Miltenyi Biotec has acquired Owl biomedical for an undisclosed amount. Owl is the developer of a microchip-based, high speed cell sorter using a disposable cartridge. “We immediately recognized the intrinsic value of Owl’s microchip-based technology for cell processing and its complement to our existing […]

Paris, France 4/3/13—Nuclear energy firm AREVA has agreed to sell Canberra, its nuclear measurement subsidiary, to private equity firm Astorg Partners (see IBO 11/30/12). Financial details were not disclosed. Based in Meriden, Connecticut, with 1,500 employees, Canberra had 2012 sales of approximately €250 million ($321 million = €0.78 = $1). “Following 10 years of organic […]

Jena, Germany 4/2/13; Jena, Germany 4/10/13—Analytik Jena has agreed to acquire US-based UVP for an undisclosed amount. A supplier of digital imaging systems for proteomic, genomic and animal science applications, UVP posted fiscal 2012 sales of $17.2 million, with half of its sales generated in North America. Analytik Jena expects the acquisition to increase its […]

Hilden, Germany and Redwood City, CA 4/29/13—QIAGEN has acquired Ingenuity Systems for $105 million in cash, effective April 29. Ingenuity is a provider of software solutions for the analysis and interpretation of the biological meaning of genomics data, including Knowledge Base, an expert-curated database of genomic variations and disease models. Ingenuity had 2012 sales of […]