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August 2005 Volume 1, Issue 6

Volume 1, Issue 6 | August 2005

August 2005

In this Issue

Informatics

Pushing the computing envelope: Nallatech and Silicon Graphics agree to collaborate on FPGA

Computing specialist Nallatech recently announced a strategic collaborative agreement that will see the company work with California-based Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) to develop high-performance computing (HPC) solutions for a variety of fields, including bioinformatics, medical imaging, and visualization systems. The new product and service offerings will combine SGI’s expertise in Reconfigurable Application-Specific Computing (RASC) and Nallatech’s field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology.

ACD/Labs, Thar find software synergy

Advanced Chemistry Development (ACD/Labs) and Thar Technologies announced an integration of their chromatography data systems to provide “efficient chiral application screening and databasing” to the pharmaceutical development process. According to Michael McBrien, ACD/Labs chromatography software product manager, the new system joins Thar’s SuperChrom software to the ACD/ChromManager, providing customers with complete front- and back-end chromatography support.

SRI and EBI expand BioCyc

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced in July the expansion of its BioCyc collection of pathway/genome databases from 18 to 160 organisms. SRI collaborated with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in enlarging the collection to include databases for most eukaryotic and prokaryotic species whose genomes have been sequenced.

Bii, Lucidyx team up

Biosystems Informatics Institute (Bii) recently announced an alliance with Cleveland, Ohio-based Lucidyx. Through this alliance, Bii will assist Lucidyx in the development of new bioinformatics tools that are intended to integrate data storage and Lucidyx’s genomic search engine technology.

LabVantage intros biobanking solution

In response to the growing need for more robust data capture and data tracking for bio banks, LabVantage Solutions Inc. rolled out in late spring the Sapphire BioBanking Solution, which it built in conjunction with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the original developers of the Spectrum repository management tool.

Research & Development

Serologicals integrates Chemicon and Upstate

Serologicals Corp. announced in mid-July implementation of a program for integrating operations of its two research products subsidiaries, Chemicon International and Upstate Group, LLC, into Serologicals. Serologicals acquired Chemicon in April 2003 and Upstate in October 2004, and plans to implement the changes in 2005.

Next for Invitrogen: BioSource: $130 million deal latest addition in company’s proteomic push

Late last month Invitrogen added the latest feather to its proteomics cap with the acquisition of BioSource International for $130 million in cash. The deal augments Invitrogen’s fast-growing product lines in the areas of protein and primary antibodies which has been built through the recent acquisitions of Zymed Laboratories and Caltag Laboratories. With BioSource, Invitrogen gains important offerings in kinase and cytokine assay technologies and entry to important new markets such as immunology, oncology and neurodegenerative diseases.

Adherex, GSK “trade” cancer products

In a deal between Adherex and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) penned in July, Adherex received an exclusive license to the oncology product eniluracil for all indications, while GSK gained an option to license Adherex’s lead biotechnology compound, ADH-1.

Trial patient screening: ViroLogic, Schering-Plough in assay deal for HIV drug trial

ViroLogic Inc, announced in early July it signed a three-year $4.8 million service agreement with the Schering-Plough Research Institute. Schering-Plough will use ViroLogic assays during Phase III clinical trails for its drug candidate vicriviroc, a potential new entry inhibitor drug for HIV.

PEARL OF A PROJECT: Perlegen nabs contract from The Women’s Health Initiative

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) recently selected Perlegen Sciences, Inc. to conduct a comparative study of genetic variation among postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease, stroke, or breast cancer. The women are subjects in a 15-year observational study and clinical trial program that includes a component looking at estrogen plus progestin (E+P) therapy. The genetic analysis will investigate whether E+P contributed to incidences of the three diseases.

AMRI tapped for SMA research

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) announced in mid-July a two-year research collaboration with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) which has a goal of identifying potential drug targets for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative neuromuscular disease. SMA causes muscle wasting and can result in death in its most severe form.

Automation & Instrumentation

Q&A: Scott Garrett, CEO, Beckman Coulter

Beckman’s acquisition of Coulter Corporation in October 1997 created the company as it is today, one of the largest providers of diagnostics and life science research products in the industry. Scott Garrett was named CEO of the company in February and recently took time for an exclusive interview with DDN Chief Editor Chris Anderson to share his vision of the industry and Beckman Coulter’s path for the future.

Qiagen quickens acquisition pace: Purchases of Nextal, SuNyx and LumiCyte broaden pre-analytical sample prep lines

Qiagen N.V. continued its recent acquisition spree, in June and earlier this month, with the acquisition of three companies whose products filled holes in the company’s pre-analytical sample preparation line. The late June purchase of Montreal-based Nextal Biotechnologies provides a foothold in the protein crystallography market, while the combination of recent acquisitions of SuNyx GmbH and LumiCyte Inc. address sample prep in the MALDI market.

Clontech sold to Takara Bio

Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) announced last month that it has signed an agreement to sell the Clontech operation, a unit of the company’s BD Biosciences division, to Otsu, Japan-based Takara Bio.

PUSHING PHASE 0: Accium and Radiant forge co-marketing agreement

Mass spectrometry specialist Accium BioSciences and clinical research company Radiant Research recently announced the signing of a co-marketing agreement that will see the two companies combine their expertise in microdosing or Phase 0 analysis to provide more extensive clinical services worldwide. The partnership will effectively see the two companies become a one-stop shop in the growing area of pre-clinical and early clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) testing.

Applied Bio expands PCR program

Applied Biosystems Group recently launched its expanded polymerase chain reaction (PCR) licensing program, and announced in early July that the first licensee in this program would be Carlsbad, Calif.-based Invitrogen Corp. Financial terms of the license were not disclosed.

Genomics & Proteomics

Ambion provides siRNA library for EMBL

Unlocking fundamental secrets about how cell division is regulated is the goal of a European Union-funded consortium called MitoCheck. One of the means to that goal is a genome-wide short interfering RNA (siRNA) library that life science research and molecular diagnostic provider Ambion and its subsidiary Ambion (Europe) Ltd. recently agreed to provide to the consortium—specifically to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany.

Collaborating to combat CF: Structural GenomiX and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sign screening deal

Structural GenomiX (SGX) recently announced the signing of a three-year, $15-million deal with Bethesda, Md.-based Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT) to discover novel therapeutics for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, a genetic pulmonary disease that affects nearly 30,000 people in the United States.

New target: GeneLogic chooses GE Healthcare to distribute it’s new Sciantis System

GeneLogic Inc. announced last month that it had chosen GE Healthcare for the global distribution of its new Sciantis System, an online gene expression analysis system targeted for use by academic, government and other non-profit research organizations. The release of Sciantis marks the company’s first attempt to provide products to this particular market segment.

Shipp to lead Verigene push

Nanotechnology life sciences company Nanosphere Inc. recently announced the hiring of Gregory Shipp, M.D., as vice president of medical affairs to spearhead the company’s commercialization efforts of its Verigene genomic and proteomic diagnostic tool.