NextGen Enlists Molecular Mining In Biochip Initiative
Molecular Mining will join an industry consortium led by NextGen Sciences to develop protein biochips, Molecular Mining said last week.
NextGen, based in Huntingdon, UK, is developing new substances for use as biochip surfaces and novel techniques for attaching proteins to those surfaces.
Molecular Mining will contribute its GeneLinker gene expression analysis software to the effort. Other consortium members include Nunc A/S, Avidity, Harvard Biosciences and Thermo LabSystems.
Large Scale Biology Expands Deal With Plant Bioscience
Large Scale Biology Corporation said last week it had exercised an option to expand its licensing deal with Plant Bioscience of Norwich, UK, allowing LSBC to use viral-derived gene silencing and overexpression technology with higher plants.
In June, LSBC of Vacaville, Calif., licensed the intellectual property from Plant Bioscience, an intellectual property management company. At that time, LSBC said it would use the technology in conjunction with its Geneware plant viral vectors on a limited range of plants.
The expanded deal will now include the application of the technology for commercially relevant monocots and dicots.
Waters Loses Patent Suit To Cohesive Technologies
A Boston jury found that Waters infringed upon a patent for high throughput liquid chromatography held by Cohesive Technologies, Cohesive said last week.
The patent, number 5,772,874, is used in Cohesive’s TurboFlow high throughput liquid chromatography product, according to the company.
“With this lawsuit behind us, we’re ready to fast-forward our marketing efforts and pursue strategic relationships with a number of outstanding partners who have been waiting for this suit to be resolved,” Peter Glick, CEO of Franklin, Mass.-based Cohesive, said in a statement.
Waters said the type of Oasis-brand particle that the court ruled had infringed on Cohesive’s patent was removed from its US product line six months ago. Milford, Mass.-based Waters plans to appeal the court decision.
Thermo Electron Hires New Life Sciences Vice President
Thermo Electron has appointed Marc Casper vice president for life sciences, the company said last week.
Prior to joining Thermo, Casper served as CEO of Kendro Laboratory Products, a Newtown, Conn.-based supplier of sample preparation and processing equipment. In his new position, Casper will be responsible for new product introductions, partnerships, acquisitions, and boosting growth in Thermo’s $800 million life science business.
Because of contractural obligations with his former employer, Casper cannot manage areas of Thermo’s business that directly compete with Kendro, such as Thermo Forma and Thermo IEC. Those areas will be supervised by Lewis Rosenblum, president of Thermo’s Bioscience Technologies division.
In October, Thermo announced that it would cut 300 to 500 positions.