NEW YORK – Thermo Fisher Scientific and software provider ChromSword said this week that they are collaborating to launch an automated high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method development system that will enable chromatographers to deliver robust and validated methods in less time and with higher confidence.
The new Thermo Scientific Vanquish Method Development HPLC and UHPLC system — which combines the Vanquish HPLC and UHPLC systems and the Thermo Scientific Chromeleon Chromatography Data System with ChromSwordAuto and ChromSword AutoRobust software — will provide an integrated, network-deployable solution for automated method development and validation for diode-array, charged aerosol and mass spectrometric detection. It uses artificial intelligence to minimize manual interaction and enables method creation for complete compound detection with no prior sample knowledge required, the companies said.
Life sciences company Cellink said this week that it has changed its name to BiCo (Bio Convergence) as a way to announce its new focus on the intersection of biology and technology. The company’s portfolio of life science products and 11 subsidiaries spans bioprinting, diagnostics, lab automation and multiomics.
BiCo said it now intends to concentrate on developing the future of health in the bioprinting, biosciences, and bioautomation business area. Within those businesses, the company will be focused around the enabling of safer and accessible organ transplants, utilization of cultivated tissue from human cells to eliminate unnecessary animal testing, faster development of more affordable medicines, more personalized medicines, and faster and less expensive diagnostics to fight infectious diseases.
The company also reported that second quarter net sales rose 628 percent year over year to SEK 293.1 million ($33.2 million). The firm’s net loss for the quarter amounted to SEK 50.5 million, or SEK .89 per share.
Scope Fluidics and Technicolor Precision BioDevices this week announced a one-year agreement to manufacture cartridges for Scope’s BacterOMIC system. Technicolor Precision will provide small-scale production of the BacterOMIC cartridges, which are used to provide quantitative assessment of bacterial susceptibility to a wide range of antibiotics in a single test.
The cartridges will be manufactured in Technicolor Precision’s facility in Warsaw, Poland, featuring a dedicated manufacturing line for pilot and scale production, and further process optimization for reducing the cost of the consumable cartridges.
Swedish diagnostics firm Immunovia said this week that its second quarter sales dropped 76 percent to SEK 38,000 ($4,314) from SEK 159,000 in Q2 2020. Its net loss for the recently completed quarter widened to SEK 49.3 million, or SEK 2.18 per share, compared to a net loss of SEK 34.1 million, or SEK 1.67 per share, a year ago. The loss for Q2 2021 was due in part to higher study costs, Immunovia — a spinout of Lund University — said. The firm's Q2 R&D costs dropped 10 percent year over year to SEK 12.1 million from SEK 13.5 million.
In the second quarter, the company received a CLIA Certificate of Registration from the Massachusetts Department of Health, a prerequisite to obtaining a clinical laboratory license to run the Immray PanCan-d test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Immunovia received the clinical lab license in early August.
Genetic Technologies said this week that it completed its previously announced acquisition of EasyDNA for $2.5 million in cash and $1.5 million in stock on Aug. 13. Of the cash consideration, $500,000 is being held in escrow for up to 12 months and is payable subject to the completion of certain conditions.
Yourgene said this week that its Yourgene Genomic Services business has been awarded a contract by the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care for provision of laboratory capacity to the National Health Service Test and Trace Programme for COVID-19 testing.
In April, the company announced it was successful in securing tenders under Public Health England's National Microbiology Framework for Lots 1 to 4, meaning that public health authorities across the UK were able to issue contracts to procure goods and testing services from Yourgene. This contract is the first to come of the National Microbiology Framework Lot wins, using the company’s high-throughput automated COVID-19 services testing laboratory in Manchester. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.