Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader focused on the health and safety of people and the environment, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CambridgeSoft Corporation, and has completed the purchase of ArtusLabs, Inc.  These acquisitions will enhance the Company's focus on knowledge management in laboratory settings by expanding its informatics and software offerings, enabling customers to rapidly access and share enterprise-wide data for faster, more informed scientific decisions. The purchase of CambridgeSoft is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Do you wish to know more?

Big U.S. and Japanese drug makers said they're still trying to account for all of their employees in Japan in the wake of Friday's earthquake and tsunami, but preliminary reports suggest company facilities haven't suffered major damage. Most major drug companies have operations in Japan because it's the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world behind the U.S., as ranked by IMS Health. Late last year, IMS projected Japanese prescription drug sales would increase 5% to 7% in 2011, to up to $100 billion. Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said its headquarters and main production facilities in Tokyo, Osaka and Hikari didn't appear to suffer major damage, but the company is still assessing the impact on its operations and employees throughout the country. do you wish to know more?

Pfizer Inc., whose serial mega-mergers have disappointed investors, may now be headed in the opposite direction. The New York-based drug maker may spin off various businesses, including its consumer-health and generic-drug units, in deals that result in a 40% contraction in its revenue base, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson wrote in a research note Monday, after meeting with Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read. The mounting speculation of potential Pfizer divestitures helped lift its shares to a 52-week high Monday, recently trading up nearly 2% at $19.82. "Investors are desperate to see pharmaceutical companies take bold steps...to try and break the cycle of underperformance," Anderson said. He added that Read and Pfizer's board "appear eager to do the same and dismantling the business will accomplish that goal." Pfizer spokeswoman Joan Campion said Monday, "As we previously stated on Feb. 1, we're conducting a portfolio review in 2011, and the re...

There is a technology roadshow organized by SkyQuest Technology Consulting (www.skyquestt.com) across some cities in India which will be a common platform for innovators and entrepreneurs of biotech/lifescience sector.  The whole idea, is to promote technology transfers and licensing of technologies through an IP marketplace.  At this event, around 50 technologies will be showcased in the form of presentations, prototypes, technology briefings and interactive sessions.  The buyers, representing nearly 50 Industry players across India are expected to discover novel potential technologies. The roadshows will spearhead the best IP marketplace at four different destinations across India in the month of March 2011.  15th - Vishakhapatnam | 17th - Hyderabad| 19th – Ahmedabad | 22nd - Vadodara  

DNA sequencing’s first attempt at a personal-computer-like console is about to get a whole lot faster. The Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM), launched with much fanfare (and  a Forbes cover ) in December, will be 100 times more powerful than it was at launch by the third quarter, according to Life Technologies, the $3 billion life sciences company that makes it. Life Technologies' Personal Genome Machine That means that the PGM will be able to sequence 1 billion letters of DNA code in two hours, making it much more competitive with a rival machine, the MiSeq, developed by Illumina, which now dominates the sequencing business. Perhaps more importantly, this leap would fulfill the promise made by Ion Torrent founder Jonathan Rothberg, who has promised that because his device relies on the same kind of semiconductor factories used to make Xboxes and iPods its performance will be able to improve 10-fold every six months. As he told me last year: “There isn’t a technology that w...