Company Announcements Cellular Dynamics raised $30 million in April in a Series B Preferred Stock financing, led by an entity affiliated with Tactics II Stem Cell Ventures. New England Biolabs named two new exclusive distributors, extending it distribution network to 39 firms: BIOKE for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; and Imperial Life Sciences for India. […]

“The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” Popularly attributed to Mark Twain, this witticism could well describe the Bay Area weather during Semicon West/Intersolar 2011, which was about ten degrees cooler than average for the season. Fortunately, the atmosphere inside Moscone Center, which hosted the joint semiconductor and […]

As part of a MYR 741 million ($251.2 million) research fund for Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP), MYR 178.4 million has been designated for 1,022 research grants. The amount is intended for R&D for a project’s first two years and extends to public and private higher learning institutions, research […]

The amount of science papers published by the member countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has increased, according to a recent study that analyzed papers included in the Institute for Science Information science citation index journals. ASEAN countries accounted for just 0.5% of the world’s science papers, or 165,000 papers, from 1991 […]

Japan will intensify regenerative medicine research by emphasizing collaborations and moving research into the clinic. Among government initiatives is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)– funded Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell 10-Year Roadmap, started in 2009 to translate research to clinical status. MEXT has joined forces with the Ministry of Health, […]

A global survey of 282 senior executives at pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and service firms found dissatisfaction with their companies’ level of innovation. Their companies’ R&D strategy was rated “moderately effective” by 49% of respondents. Cost was ranked by 47% as their firms’ biggest challenge (respondents ranked their top three challenges) to improving innovation, followed […]

This month, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of gene patents. The Myriad Genetics case involved the firm’s patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes for predicting the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The court ruled that the chemical structure of the isolated DNA covered by the […]

In 2010, the aggregate profit margin for the firms in Chemical & Engineering News’ survey of the top 50 chemical companies was 11.4%, the highest profit margin in 15 years. Sales at the 49 firms showing similar year-over-year figures grew 25.3% to $857 billion in 2010. Operating profits for the 47 firms with similar year-over-year […]

Berlin, Germany and Washington, DC 7/1/11—Bioscan has sold its radiopharmaceutical equipment business to Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik, an isotope technology company, for an undisclosed amount. The sale includes analytical instruments used for the quality assurance of radioactive pharmaceuticals and automated radiopharmaceutical synthesis units. “By such an investment, we are broadening our commitment to […]

Chelmsford, MA 7/25/11—Brooks Automation has acquired Nexus Biosystems, a supplier of automated compound and sample management solutions for life science, for a net cash price of $79 million. For the twelve months ending June 30, Nexus recorded revenues of $36 million. “Together with our other recent acquisition, RTS Life Sciences, and our core technical competencies […]