Ciphergen Partners with GE on ProteinChip Service in Asia
A unit of General Electric will become Ciphergen Biosystems’ post-sale services partner for its ProteinChip systems for hospitals in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the companies said Dec. 18. Ciphergen and GE Medical Systems have been working together in China on an “informal basis” for the past year, and have now established a “formal,” multi-year services agreement. The agreement is with the Medical Systems’ Trade and Development unit.
“GE Medical Systems has a major presence ... in China,” William Rich, president and CEO of Ciphergen, said in a statement. “China is investing heavily in leading edge biotechnology research and we hope to jointly play a significant role in fostering the adoption of our ProteinChip products as research and diagnostic platforms in this important market.”
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Nonlinear Partners with Shimadzu for Australian, New Zealand Distribution
Nonlinear Dynamics announced Dec. 18 that Shimadzu Oceania, a subsidiary of Shimadzu, would distribute an array of Nonlinear’s 1D and 2D electrophoresis analysis software products. The products available for sale through Shimadzu will include all Phoretix products for 2D analysis; Phoretix 1D for 1D analysis; Phoretix Array for array image analysis, and TotalLab, a suite of image analysis tools with modules for 1D gel analysis, array-dot blot analysis, colony counting, and other image analysis applications.
“We look forward to expanding our business in this important market and to further strengthening our already close links with Shimadzu globally,” John Spreadbury, group sales and marketing director of Nonlinear, said in a statement.
Invitrogen to Acquire BioReliance
Invitrogen announced last week that it will acquire BioReliance, a contract service organization based in Rockville, Md., in a transaction valued at $500 million.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals, as well as other closing conditions, near the end of the first quarter of this year, the company said in a statement.
After the close of the deal, which includes Invitrogen’s assumption of $70 million in debt, BioReliance will become a part of Invitrogen’s bioproduction business segment and, retaining its name, will focus both on its current line of services and on new developments that draw on both services and technology needed to improve drug development. Invitrogen is pursuing an aggressive strategy of acquisitions, with over $1 billion cash on hand for acquisitions and other investments, Greg Lucier, the company’s CEO, said during the company’s annual guidance conference in December.