Nearly All of Silicon Genetics’ Employees to Join Agilent
With the exception of one or two administrative employees, all of Silicon Genetics’ 50 employees have joined Agilent following Agilent’s acquisition of the company, an Agilent representative said last week.
According to the representative, all personnel from the sales, R&D, and training departments of Silicon Genetics have been switched over to Agilent. The acquisition, which was initially announced in late August, closed on Nov. 1 (see BAN 9/1/2004).
Together, Silicon Genetics, a Redwood City, Calif.-based software solutions company, and Agilent will form a life science-informatics team to create products spanning DNA, RNA, protein, and pathway applications, the companies said. The team will sell and support products including the Rosetta Resolver and Luminator gene expression data analysis systems, the Agilent Spectrum Mill proteomics workbench, and the Agilent Synapsia informatics workbench.
Whatman to Acquire Schleicher & Schuell
Whatman announced this week the proposed acquisition of Schleicher & Schuell for €50.2 million ($65 million).
Among S&S’s products are substrates and slides for microarray experiments. Earlier this year, the German firm launched the S&S Serum Biomarker Chip, which contains 120 different antibodies spotted on S&S Fast Slides and is intended for rapid profiling of known serum biomarkers.
According to Whatman, the acquisition, which will be financed in full by debt, gives it the opportunity to expand its presence in Europe, while achieving cost and revenue synergies as early as next year.
The announcement comes about four months after Whatman terminated a licensing deal with Schleicher & Schuell as part of a patent infringement lawsuit settlement.
Whatman noted that the acquisition is still subject to approval at an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for Nov. 30.
Bio-Rad Posts Mild Q3 Revenue Growth
Bio-Rad Laboratories has reported increased revenue for the third quarter from its life science and clinical diagnostic business segments, while its earnings declined.
Bio-Rad booked $258.8 million in revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $241.8 million during the same period last year. Its life science segment contributed $120.6 million in revenues, up 7 percent over last year’s receipts, driven by a mix of products geared more towards reagents and increased sales of multiplex array technology, amplification and electrophoresis reagents, and gene transfer technology. The unit also benefited from gene expression products from MJ GeneWorks and MJ Research, which Bio-Rad acquired in August.
Bio-Rad spent $26.6 million during the quarter on R&D, up from $23 million during the same period last year.
Net income fell to $6.3 million, or $.24 per share, from $9.7 million, or $.37 per share, during the third quarter of 2003.
As of Sept. 30, Bio-Rad had $125.2 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Institute of Food Research Licenses BlueGnome software
The UK-based Institute of Food Research has licensed the BlueFuse for MicroArrays software from BlueGnome to help it pinpoint how a certain bacterium in food causes disease.
Scientists led by Jay Hintons will use the software to discern how the bacterium, Salmonella typhimurium, manages to evade antibiotics and survive in the human body.
The IFR said Hintons’ research may lead to the development of a vaccine for the bug.
Beckman Licenses Martek Protein-Detection Dye
Beckman Coulter has obtained non-exclusive rights for the next 10 years to use Martek’s PBXL-1 protein-detection dye, the companies announced last week.
Beckman will use the dye on its A2 MicroArray System.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Fisher Q3 Revenues Climb 42 Percent
Fisher Scientific announced that its third-quarter revenue increased 42 percent, which includes a 50-percent rise in revenue from scientific products and services.
Fisher Scientific’s third-quarter revenue swelled to $1.2 billion from $890 million in the third quarter of 2003. Revenue from scientific products and services rose to $945 million from $632 million year over year.
Sales of scientific products and services in the recent quarter totaled $922.8 million, an increase of 46 percent compared to the third quarter of 2003.
Net income dropped to $10.8 million, or $.10 per diluted share, from $27.7 million, or $.47 per share, year over year.
Fisher reported $296.4 million in cash and cash equivalents available on Sept. 30, part of the company’s $7.9 billion of total assets.
BD Revenues Up 8 Percent in Third Quarter
Becton Dickinson reported that total revenues increased 8 percent in the third quarter to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion year over year, while sales at its Biosciences unit were flat at $89 million.
BD spent $59 million on research and development in the quarter, up 12 percent from $52 million for the same quarter in 2003.
Net income receded to $67 million for the period from $161 million in the year-ago quarter. The decline reflected a $116 million charge relating to BD’s plans to sell its Clontech unit..
US Genomics Places Single-Molecule Analyzer At Mount Sinai Lab
US Genomics has placed its first instrument for single-molecule analysis in a lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the company said this week.
The instrument, Trilogy Single Molecule Analyzer, allows researchers to study individual molecules of DNA, microRNA, siRNA, and proteins in a 96-well format. Mount Sinai will use the instrument for direct quantitative comparisons between molecules, aiming to develop molecular diagnostic tools and new therapies.