Digilab Acquires BioVisioN to Develop Disease-Management Products
Digilab announced this week that it has acquired peptide-profiler BioVisioN.
"We plan to integrate proprietary Digilab tools into research processes and ultimately disease management systems," said Digilab President David Giddings in a statement.
Financial details were not released.
BioVisioN patented the Peptidomics technology and Differential Peptide Display software for peptide biomarker discovery. It is based in Hannover, Germany.
Invitrogen's Q4 Revenues Grow 24 Percent as Profit Jumps 63 Percent
Invitrogen this week reported double-digit growth in revenues and profits for the fourth quarter of 2005.
Total receipts for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2005, rose 24 percent to $325.3 million from $262.2 million in the prior-year period. Acquisitions generated 17 percent of the quarterly revenue growth, Invitrogen said, while currency exchange rates had a negative impact of 4 percent on quarterly revenues, resulting in net organic growth of 11 percent for the period.
Invitrogen reported quarterly organic revenue growth of 12 percent in its BioDiscovery business unit and 8 percent organic growth in its BioProduction business.
Invitrogen's net income for the fourth quarter grew 63 percent to $49.6 million versus $30.5 million for the same quarter in 2004.
R&D spending rose 36 percent to $27.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 from $20 million in the year-ago period.
Invitrogen had $751 million in cash and investments as of Dec. 31, 2005.
Bruker's Organic Q4 Revenues Dip Slightly Though Loss Turns to Profit
Bruker BioSciences last week reported fourth quarter 2005 revenues of $80.6 million, down from $85.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Revenues increased by 1 percent when adjusted for foreign currency effects, the company said.
Bruker reported net income of $1.9 million for the period ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $900,000 in the year-ago period.
R&D expenses dropped to $9.4 million in the current quarter, versus $12.1 million in the similar quarter last year.
The company had around $99.7 million in cash and short-term investments as of Dec. 31.
Biacore's Q4 Revenue Rose 23 Percent on US Sales Recovery
Biacore last week said that sales for the fourth quarter rose 23 percent to 193.7 million Swedish kronor ($24.6 million) from 157.1 million Swedish kronor a year ago.
Sales in the US rose 48 percent and European sales were up 45 percent, but receipts in Asia-Pacific declined by 20 percent.
Biacore posted fourth-quarter net income of 49.4 million Swedish kronor, or 5.06 Swedish kronor per share, versus 24.4 million Swedish kronor, or 2.51 Swedish kronor per share, during the same period last year.
R&D spending rose to 27.0 million Swedish kronor from 23.2 million Swedish kronor in the fourth quarter of 2004.
The company said it expects 2006 sales to increase "at approximately the same rate as in 2005 with modest growth in the first quarter."
As of Dec. 31, the company had 157.9 million Swedish kronor in cash and cash equivalents.
Bio-Rad Reports Flat Q4 Sales as Thermal Cycler Injunction Took Its Toll
Bio-Rad last week said that fourth-quarter net sales were flat, with $307.3 million for the period ended Dec. 31, compared to $307.9 in the year-ago period.
Net sales show a 2.9-percent rise from the similar period in 2004 when earnings are adjusted for currency-exchange effects, the company said.
The company's Life Science segment experienced a 5.3-percent drop in net sales, which fell to $140.7 million from $148.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. Bio-Rad attributed the decline to an injunction that halted the sale and manufacture of its MJ Research thermal cyclers.
Bio-Rad's Clinical Diagnostics segment reported net sales of $162.9 million for the period ended Dec. 31, a rise of 4 percent year over year.
R&D expenses remained nearly unchanged at $31.9 million for the current period, versus $31.1 million in the year-ago period.
Net income decreased to $13.5 million in the fourth quarter from $17.1 million in 2004.
The company had around $296.7 million in cash and equivalents as of Dec. 31.
Thermo Electron to Buy Back $100M of its Common Stock by Next February
Thermo Electron this week said it plans to buy back $100 million of shares of its own common stock, both in the open market or in negotiated transactions.
According to Thermo Electron it plans to complete the stock buy back by Feb. 28, 2007.
LabCorp Exclusively Licenses Yale's Blood Test for Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Laboratory Corporation of America announced last week that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Yale University to commercialize the university's new blood testing technology for epithelial ovarian cancer.
Under terms of the agreement, Yale will receive signing, milestone and royalty fees.
The new epithelial ovarian cancer test is based on a collection of serum proteins associated with cancer biology. Each protein marker is analyzed using an ELISA assay, and a statistical analysis is then performed to score the combined results.
BSI, AstraZeneca Ink Osteoarthritis Biomarker Deal
BioSystems International and AstraZeneca will collaborate to discover biomarkers for the treatment of osteoarthritis, BioSystems International announced last week.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will provide samples and funding for the research done by BSI, which will retain rights and income from diagnostic applications.
AstraZeneca receives a non-exclusive license to use the results for internal R&D activities, including exclusive rights to any new targets. The drug maker will also have a worldwide license to cite or recommend the use of the products developed by BSI as part of the collaboration.
Financial details were not released.
NE BioGroup to Distribute Nonlinear's TotalLab in US
New England BioGroup will distribute Nonlinear Dynamics' TotalLab product range in the US, Nonlinear announced this week.
The product range includes the TL100 general image-analysis software, TL120 for 1D gel imprints, and the TL120 DM solution.
Financial details were not released.
NE BioGroup is a life science research supplier that has partnered with a "small, select group of manufacturers."