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October 2009 Volume 5, Issue 10

Volume 5, Issue 10 | October 2009

In this Issue

Global News

Dainippon offers $2.6B for Sepracor

Investors object, lawsuits allege Dainippon’s offer is inadequate

Singapore sling

Roche adds Lonza facility in Singapore to its growing collection of Asian locations

Evotec AG and Biogen Idec strike screening pact

Evotec will use its technologies to identify hit molecules for Biogen

Old pharma friendship bears fruit

Debiopharm to co-develop Ipsen’s Debio 0931 for treatment of cancer

MDS sells mass spec business to Danaher for $650 million

Company also seeks buyer for pharma services business as it shifts focus to medical isotopes

Informatics

Opening the door to data flow

Collaborative Drug Discovery adds ChemBridge’s screening libraries to growing compound database

Top-down approach to next-gen

GenomeQuests and Biomatters team up to offer integrated product for next-generation sequencing projects

Glad to know you

The Gladstone Institutes link with Alitora Systems to develop advance knowledge systems

License to mine

GeneGo licenses MetaCore to Proteostasis Therapeutics

Automation & Instrumentation

Taking the next step

Hamilton Robotics and Promega expand their collaborative relationship to co-develop an entire automated system

Right on target for genomics

Affymetrix and Beckman Coulter join forces to provide robust, automated target preparation solutions

Cell Biosciences to acquire Alpha Innotech

In a move aimed at creating a global presence in the protein analysis market—with solutions that will range in cost from $5,000 to $200,000—Cell Biosciences Inc. announced in September its acquisition of Alpha Innotech Corp.

Mad about rads

PerkinElmer boosts reagents assets with purchase of GE Healthcare's Catalog Radiochemical products

Dionex detects growth opportunities with ESA Life Sciences acquisition

Company acquires assets of ESA Life Sciences' tools business to expand HPLC product portfolio

Genomics & Proteomics

Music to their ears

Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire B.R.A.H.M.S., a European provider of specialty diagnostic tests, for $470 million

Companions in diagnostics

Abbott to develop companion diagnostic for a Pfizer investigational lung cancer therapy

Roche gets value with GEMS

Collaboration based on PTC’s novel drug discovery platform to focus on four CNS disease targets

Nuevolution connects with Novartis

Partnership will use Nuevolution’s Chemetics technology for lead discovery

Silence is golden

UK’s Silence Therapeutics signs siRNA delivery agreement with Japan-based Dainippon

Research & Development

Biz booming in biotech hub

North Carolina Biotechnology Center expands headquarters in response to state's continued biotech industry growth

Wellcome Trust and Merck launch joint venture

Aim is to develop affordable vaccines for low-income countries

Golden opportunity for PsychoGenics and AstraZeneca

Companies to collaborate on finding new treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders

Two peptides are better than one

Amylin and Biocon strike global development and commercialization deal for novel peptide hybrid aimed at treating diabetes

New Products

Next-generation microplate labeler

Agilent Automation Solutions has introduced a new microplate labeling system for automated on-demand, barcode print-and-apply applications in life science laboratories.

Core-shell column technology delivers ultra-high performance

Phenomenex Inc. has introduced Kinetex, ultra-high performance LC columns based on the company’s new core-shell silica technology. Kinetex meets researchers’ need to improve results and increase productivity without large capital expenditures.

Commentary

Next-gen antibody approaches to cancer treatment offer improved product profiles, greater commercial success

Therapeutic antibodies have changed the cancer treatment landscape over the past decade. Both in liquid and solid tumors, antibodies have become an integral component of treatment regimens that have improved and extended the lives of cancer patients.

Patent News

U.S. DOJ hits Pfizer with $2.3 billion fine

How do you know the government is upset about spending all its money on healthcare? When you’re required to pay a record $2.3 billion civil and criminal penalty over unlawful prescription drug promotions.

Editor's Focus

Research Triangle Park or bust

I can’t help but wonder what sort of opportunities could be created if the citizens, industry and lawmakers in struggling states such as my own worked together to replicate North Carolina’s success story.

News Briefs

Hydra Biosciences, Cubist form collaboration

Hydra Biosciences has announced an agreement with Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. for a joint collaboration to develop novel ion channel drugs.

Bench Press

OriGene Technologies acquires Marligen Biosciences

OriGene Technologies Inc. announced the acquisition of Marligen Biosciences Inc., a provider of cutting-edge multiplex assays for the Luminex xMAP platform for protein and gene expression profiling assays and testing services, and DNA and RNA purification kits.