Zogenix and Battelle signed a Letter of Intent with the objective of advancing the development and commercialization of Zogenix's DosePro drug delivery technology outside Zogenix's core therapeutic focus areas.

Thermo Fisher Scientific was awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on its Thermo Scientific Nunc Cell Factory System with Active Gassing, recognizing the device’s unique gas distribution system. Developed for cells that require a high or low level of oxygen for optimal growth or are pH sensitive, the system provides a controlled atmosphere by distributing a user-specified gas mixturethat isactively pumped through an attached filtration device.

Takara Bio Europe announced that in addition to Clontech brand products, it will sell its range of Takara brand products exclusively and directly to users in the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Steinert US relocated its North American headquarters from Erlanger, KY to Walton, KY.  Its new 36,000 sq. ft. facility features a test lab, manufacturing/repair facility, increased spare parts inventory, and the North American headquarters for Steinert. 

Roche entered into a strategic alliance with Technoclone, a reagent specialist in thrombosis and cardiovascular diagnostics based in Vienna, Austria, to co-develop a complete range of coagulation assays. The alliance supports plans Roche announced in October 2011 to develop a new line of analyzers for the central coagulation lab, which will be marketed under Roche's cobas brand.  The new line is expected to be introduced in the U.S. and Canada in 2014, subject to regulatory approval and other requirements. As part of the alliance, Roche will also market Technoclone's range of Research Use Only products that address the needs of the hemostasis research community.

 Roche also announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provided 510(k) clearance to the cobas CT/NG Test for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients from male urine and self -collected vaginal swabs.  A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based multiplex dual probe assay, the test for chlamydia and gonorrhea offers excellent sensitivity and high specificity and runs on the automated cobas 4800 System, complementing the cobas HPV (Human Papillomavirus)Test that received FDA approval in 2011.

Professor Sir Ed Southern, founder of Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), wasawarded the 2011 Medical Research Council (MRC) Millennium Medal. Sir Ed becomes one of only four researchers to have received the prize since it was inaugurated in 2000.  The awardrecognizes an MRC-funded scientist whose outstanding research has made a major contribution toward the health and wealth of society.

Fluidigm appointed AH diagnostics as its exclusive distributor in Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland). AH diagnostics now offers Fluidigm's complete portfolio of BioMark HD, EP1, and Access Array Systems, the complete line up of Dynamic Array, Digital Array and Access Array IFCs for real-time PCR, digital PCR, single-cell gene expression, sample preparation for next-generation sequencing, and SNP genotyping; plus Fluidigm's new DELTAgene and SNPtype assays.

Evotec announced a second strategic alliance with Harvard University, this time including Brigham and Women’s Hospital aimed at discovering and developing new biomarkers and treatments in the field of kidney disease. The first successful collaboration, named CureBeta, was established in March 2011 to develop new diabetes therapies targeting beta cell regeneration. This alliance, named CureNephron, will pursue systematic and unbiased approaches toward the identification of kidney disease relevant mechanisms with particular interest in mechanisms with disease modifying potential. It is designed to deliver and exploit novel therapeutic targets as well as biomarkers that allow more accurate diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of chronic and acute kidney disease.

BioTek Instruments opened a subsidiary, BioTek France, in Colmar, France.  The BioTek France team includes European Managing Director and President Dirk Frese; National Sales Manager Philippe Vivier; Sales Representative Damien Brechet; amd Sales Representative Lionel Capelle.  BioTek's European Application's team will support BioTek France through onsite technical presentations and a growing range of application notes. In addition, BioTek France SAS announced a partnership whereby Serlabo Technologies will provide service, maintenance and qualification on BioTek's instrumentation.

Advion appointed Universal Analytical and Testing Instruments, Ltd. (UATIL) as the exclusive distributor for the expression, a Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS) approximately half the size of existing single quadrupole mass spectrometers on the market. The newly-released and shipment-ready CMS was introduced to the Chinese market in January.

Ventana Medical Systems and Advanced Cell Diagnostics entered a worldwide co-promotion agreement for the first commercially available, fully automated RNA in situhybridization (ISH) assay system capable of robust detection and visualization of virtually any expressed gene in routine clinical specimens at single-molecule sensitivity. The two companies have partnered to automate this assay system on the VENTANA DISCOVERY series slide staining platforms.

TAP Biosystems appointedtwo new application specialists in the U.S. and two in Europe, as well as a network of more than 10 new distributorsin South East Asia, Russia and the Middle Eastto allow worldwide access to TAP’s advanced micro bioreactor (ambr) automated bioprocessing technologies and expertise.

SAW Instruments and ACOBIO K.K. signed an exclusive agreement to allow ACOBIO K.K. to distribute SAW’s sam range of acoustic biosensors inJapan.

Roche signed an agreement to acquire Verum Diagnostica. The acquisition supports Roche's plan to expand its coagulation testing product line in North America beyond physician offices and outpatient clinics with the development of a full line of coagulation analyzers for hospital and reference laboratories. The new line is expected to be introduced in the U.S. and Canada in 2014, subject to regulatory approval and other requirements.

Roche also filed a 510(k) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a fully automated, total vitamin D assay (25-hydroxyvitamin D) for use on Roche's full portfolio of laboratory analyzers. The Elecsys vitamin D test can be combined with routine testing on existing Roche immunoassay analyzers and integrated chemistry/immunoassay systems, enabling labs to address the growing demand for vitamin D testing while maximizing their productivity.

Roche and Labcyte will cooperate around high-speed, miniaturized quantitative PCR (qPCR) to monitor the expression of tens to thousands of genes for therapeutic research. The RealTime ready Cell Lysis kit from Roche enables gene expression directly from cell lysates. Coupled with Echo liquid handlers and newly-released tissue culture microplates from Labcyte, users can simplify high-throughput qPCR analyses. This process can be fully automated using the Access Workstation from Labcyte, which integrates the Echo liquid handler with either the LightCycler 480 or LightCycler 1536 Instrument. Gene expression profiles derived in a one-step process directly from cells can now be streamlined into a simple automated workflow.

QIAGEN announced the regulatory approval of its therascreen EGFR Mutation Detection Kit RGQ in Japan. EGFR, the epidermal growth factor receptor, has been shown to play an important role in certain cancers and is the target of many new anticancer drugs.

PrimeraDx appointed David Heffelfinger as vice president of engineering and systems development. Mr. Heffelfinger previously held engineering positions with life science and medical device companies including Beckman Coulter, BD Biosciences and Bio-Rad Laboratories as well as several startups and venture capital backed companies including Biometric Imaging, Alpha Innotech and Luminys Systems.  Heffelfinger also founded Hyperspectra.  He received his B.S. and M.S. in Physics from Wayne State University and an Executive MBA from Saint Mary's College.  He holds 27 U.S. and international patents in the fields of imaging, optics, bio-systems, and instrumentation.

Gyros announced that Binex, a CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) for biotechnology products in the Asian-Pacific region, purchased a Gyrolab workstation.

Fluxion Biosciences signed a distribution agreement for EMD Millipore’s PrecisION range of ion channel cell lines. The non-exclusive agreement combinesFluxion’s IonFlux automated patch clamp instrumentation with EMD Millipore’s suite of ion channel cell lines. Through the agreement, Fluxion providesIonFlux customers with cell lines that have been performance validated on the IonFlux automated patch clamp platform.

FEI acquired ASPEX Corporation of Delmont, PA.  ASPEX provides rugged scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and related services for environmentally demanding applications. The ASPEX EXtreme SEM is an integral part of the FEI QEMSCAN WellSite solution for on-site oil and gas solutions.
 
FEI entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Institutes of Health, creating a "Living Lab Structural Biology Center" to promote structural biology research through the integration of cryo-electron microscopy (EM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) which may accelerate important medical discoveries relating to global health challenges such as HIV/AIDS and cancer.

Dr. Klaus Brinkmann joined the Curetis management team as director of sales.  He joins Curetis from BioRad Laboratories.  Prior to that, he held positions with Becton Dickinson and Beckman Coulter.

Cell Signaling Technology won Life Science Industry Awards from BioInformatics in the “Best Performing Antibodies” and “Best Breakthrough Products Cancer Research” categories.  The awards are an annual event in which BioInformatics surveys its professional social network of almost 70,000 bioscience researchers. Over 6,000 scientists from all regions of the world participated in the nomination and voting process.

BioTek Instruments announced a service partnership with Serlabo Technologies in France. Under the contract, Serlabo will provide installation, installation/operation/performance qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ), primary training, service, preventative maintenance and service contracts for users of BioTek's microplate instrumentation.

BioTek Instruments also established a second office in China, located in Shanghai's Pudong district, Zhangjiang Pharma Valley.

Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) entered into a collaboration to support and develop regulatory science for the safe and effective use of biomaterials in medical devices.  The FDA will draw upon ABIA resources—including a library of test methods for crystalline polymers and advanced methods of nanoparticle-based surface defect detections—to develop combinatorial and high-throughput methods to support the FDA's safety review of biomaterials used in medical devices.  Working with the FDA, ABIA will identify and convene a steering committee to guide a process for scientific and intellectual collaborations, outreach, and education initiatives. The steering committee will create a path for joint education and research meetings, and support research collaborations in applied biomaterials, including ways to share unique facilities and equipment specific to the review of biomaterials.

Artel expanded its Technical Services team with the appointment of Dana Campbell as a Laboratory Applications Specialist.  Prior to joining Artel, Campbell was senior field applications specialist at Beckman Coulter.

TAP Biosystems announcedthat it wasaccredited by theU.K.’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) for the development of Incorporated and Chartered Engineers.  According to TAP, the IMechE accreditation means it offers professional mentoring and training to support engineers in their career development. The accreditationwas the culmination of a four stage selection process, including a visit by an IMechE interview panel of engineering experts.

Roche and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles established a strategic alliance to operate the medical center’s molecular diagnostics laboratory as a Roche Molecular Center of Excellence (MCOE) for the next five years. It will be one of the first centers of excellence to offer physicians and patients some of the latest and most advanced molecular technologies. Established in 2002, Roche's MCOE program is designed to create an alliance network that enables non-competing regional laboratories across the U.S. to collaborate and capitalize on scientific knowledge in molecular testing and, in turn, help accelerate the advancement of new test methods and technology.

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT)announced a collaborative agreement with Abcodia aimed at improving the early detection of pancreatic cancer. As part of this collaboration, Abcodia will provide access to its large prospective serum biobank to harness samples taken from individuals up to 7 years before the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.  OGT will apply its functional protein array platform and itsGenefficiency microRNA profiling array to identify pancreatic cancer specific biomarkers that can be used as diagnostic indicators of developing pancreatic cancer.

Laird Technologies was awarded a U.S. patent #8045592 for the work of three of its wireless and M2M inventors: RF Engineer III Joseph Combi, Director of Engineering Ayman Duzdar, and RF Engineer III Gary Reed. The patent was issued for work with multiple antenna multiplexers, demultiplexers and antenna assemblies. The multiplexers and assemblies receive signals from the multiple antennas in a system and combines those signals for transmission into a single output. The demultiplexers receive the single input, and output the signal onto separate receivers. The antennas used in this patent included GPS (1574 to 1576 MHz) and world cell frequencies (824 to 960 MHz and 1710 to 2170 MHz).

FEI Company acquired TILL Photonics. With this acquisition, FEI acquired technology for correlative microscopy for cellular biology, which integrates high performance light and electron microscopy.

CureVac signed several agreements with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi. Under these agreements, CureVac and Sanofi Pasteur will further develop and apply CureVac’s RNActive technology platform to the development of vaccines against several infectious diseases.  A research proposal involving a collaboration among CureVac, Sanofi Pasteur (includingSanofi Pasteur VaxDesign) and In-Cell-Art was selected by DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In this 4-year project, CureVac and the other parties to the collaboration will further advance key aspects of CureVac’s RNActivetechnology platform and will evaluate several vaccine candidates in a number of relevant disease models.  Parallel to the collaboration agreements, CureVac and Sanofi Pasteur also signed an option agreement with pre-agreed license terms for several pre-defined pathogens. Sanofi Pasteur’s option rights are linked to fulfillment of certain agreed acceptance criteria relating to the DARPA project. CureVac retains the rights to its own core development programs and to all of its background technology for any other pathogens outside those within the Sanofi Pasteur option.

Vetter earned ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system and BS OHSAS 18001 certification for its occupational health and safety management system. These certifications cover all of Vetter’s European facilities and were issued by the international certification network IQNet following extensive audits.

According to Ventana Medical Systems, the University Medical Center in Tucson is validating the VENTANA INFORM HER2 Dual ISH DNA Probe cocktail assay (HER2 Dual ISH) on the BenchMark XT automated slide staining instrument to help determine HER2 gene status in breast cancer patients in an effort to change the paradigm for targeted treatment therapies.

The Ventana anti-Helicobacter pylori (SP48) Rabbit Monoclonal Primary Antibody (H. pylori) is the first H. pylori antibody to receive 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Developed by Ventana Medical Systems, a member of the Roche Group, the Ventana H. pylori antibody, when used in immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, aids in the detection of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium linked to chronic gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer.

Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Intrinsic Bioprobes whose portfolio includes theMass Spectrometric Immunoassay (MSIA), featuring a patented sample preparation techniquethat allows enrichment of low-abundance proteins in biological samples. According to Thermo, the specificity of immuno-enrichment coupled with mass spectrometryoffersa complete, higher-resolution view of the proteomeand other advantages over conventional ELISA and bead-based immunoassay formats.

Thermo Fisher Scientific also announced that it supplied a Thermo Scientific KingFisher Flex magnetic particle processor to Labor Krone and IMOLTEC (University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld), Germany to enable research into H1N1 screening.

Sias appointed Wolfgang Walser as its chief financial officer Walser replaces Robert Kundert who left to  open his own business. Before joining Sias, Walser was with Firmenbörse in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, where he was an M&A consultant specializing in small and medium-sized enterprises. Prior to that, Walser had been with Baur Prüf- und Messtechnik and the Hilti Group.

Poland-based Selvita announced an agreement with Evestra of Germany for the delivery of a series of drug metabolism, pharmacokinetic (DMPK) and physicochemical studies, including CYP inhibition, metabolic identification and stability, as well as oral bioavailability and pharmacokinetics assays, both in vitro and in vivo, accompanied by gentotoxicity testing.

Sartorius Stedim Biotech entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement with GE Healthcare Life Sciences; andsigned an agreement to acquire the liquid handling business of Biohit Oyj.

The combined automated target enrichment solution from Roche and Caliper Life Sciences was adopted by the Genetic Laboratory of the Department of Internal Medicine at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This optimized solution is being used in a new phase of a large human epidemiological cohort, the Rotterdam Study, for automating the capture of >3,000 samples for next-generation sequencing. The Rotterdam Study includes 15,000 participants of 45 years or more who have been followed since 1990. To accommodate the vast amounts of data, a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) database was established in 2007 by the Genetic Laboratory at the Department of Internal Medicine. By using Roche’s exome capture product, NimbleGen SeqCap EZ Exome Library, combined with Caliper Life Sciences Sciclone NGS Workstation, the Erasmus MC team now expects to discover more data with an automated exome sequencing sample preparation solution.

Roche announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Premarket Approval (PMA) for its IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (Anti-HBc IgM) assay for use on the cobas e 601 analyzer, the immunoassay module of the cobas 6000 analyzer series for mid-volume laboratories. The test represents the final component of the acute panel within the hepatitis test menu for the cobas 6000 series. The Anti-HBc IgM assay is used for the in-vitro qualitative determination of IgM antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc IgM) in human serum or plasma.  The presence of anti-HBc IgM, in conjunction with other laboratory results and clinical information, is indicative of an acute or recent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The assay is intended for use with Roche's electrochemiluminescence (ECL) technology.

QIAGEN entered into a partnership with Eli Lilly and Company for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of a molecular companion diagnostic for an early stage investigational compound currently being developed by Lilly. Lilly’s proprietary compound, called a JAK2 inhibitor, targets the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene, which has been shown to play a role in myeloproliferative neoplasms, a variety of blood cancers that cause blood cells to grow abnormally. Under the terms of the agreement, QIAGEN will develop a new companion diagnostic test that will provide both qualitative and quantitative results for JAK2 V617F. The assay is intended to identify patients most likely to benefit from treatment with inhibitors of the pathway. The scope of the partnership includes development and use of the QIAGEN JAK2 assay during clinical trials and also covers manufacturing and joint commercialization of the diagnostic product in parallel with the Lilly compound.

PerkinElmer acquired Caliper Life Sciences.

PBS Biotech acquired Integrity CMI for integration into existing operations. The added technical capabilities and factory space augments PBS Biotech’s manufacturing capability for disposable vessels, bags, and related plastic parts assemblies of single-use bioreactors under clean room environmental controls. 

PBS also added Lourie Zak, a former executive director of finance at Amgen, as the company’s chief financial officer.

PANalytical relocated its X-ray tube manufacturing to a new factory in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

PrimeraDx appointed Jeff Liter as vice president of corporate development.  Prior to joining PrimeraDx, Liter was the director of strategy, business development, and licensing for Beckman Coulter; and managing director with On Point Consulting.

Poplar Solutions announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 Environmental Services Branch Laboratory, in Houston, TX, implemented the Labcore Scientific Data Management System to automate laboratory operations including data package assembly and management.

ProBioGen and Inhibrx signed a multi-program license deal on ADCC-enhanced therapeutic antibodies. ProBioGen’s GlymaxX ADCC enhancement technology and mammalian cell line development and manufacturing services will be used to advance therapeutic antibodies generated by Inhibrx’s discovery platforms. The agreement initially covers development services for several undisclosed first-in-class and best-in-class antibodies with enhanced ADCC potency, as well as cell line and process development for other recombinant therapeutic proteins.

Phenomenex won the 2011 award for best biotechnology website in the Web Marketing Association’s WebAward competition.  The Phenomenex site includes multiple interactive tools that help scientists optimize methods and quickly find the best product solution for their application.  The new online resource contains thousands of applications and in-depth information about chemical compound structures and characteristics.  Users can save method details and product information in an Application Locker for future access, and a virtual stockroom allows customers to save purchase histories and wish lists. 

Oxford Gene Technology appointed Mr. Tim Hall asfinance director. Mr.Hall will join the company at the start of 2012.  He has a business administration degree from the University of Bath and qualified as an accountant with Touche Ross.  Hehas worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries for over 20 years, including Lombard Medical Technologies,MedevaandCelltech Pharmaceuticals.

Ontochem and Priaxon entered into a collaboration and commercialization agreement to obtain new superior inhibitors of the plant PARP, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase enzyme. The goal of this collaboration is to increase the intrinsic stress tolerance of agricultural crops and accordingly minimizing growth losses by abiotic stress.

Nuevolution entered into collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, using Nuevolution’s Chemetics drug discovery technology. Within the framework of the collaboration, hundreds of millions of diverse small molecules will be screened to discover and advance drug candidates against drug targets of interest to Boehringer Ingelheim.

NovAliX aso entered into drug discovery collaboration with Galapagos. Under the terms of this agreement NovAliX will be responsible for the discovery of specific small molecule lead candidates for a novel, validated osteoarthritis target chosen by Galapagos. NovAliX will identify hits using its Graffinity fragment-based screening technology that combines chemical micro-arrays with a proprietary SPR-imaging method for the detection of compound-protein interactions and then further progress this program to the lead candidate stage by applying its medicinal chemistry and structural biology expertise.

NovAliX also entered into a multi-year drug research collaboration in the field of trisomy 21 with the Fondation Jérôme Lejeune in which NovAliX will develop small molecule lead candidates targeting the cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS).  

Navitar announced a new licensing agreement with Carl Zeiss MicroImaging. Under the terms of the contract, Carl Zeiss will license Navitar’s Hoffman Modulation Contrast (HMC) trademark for use in its iHMC product line. Zeiss will manufacture objectives, modulators, slit apertures, and condensers using the HMC technology, and distribute and sell them under the iHMC name.