Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

Merck KGaA today announced that it will acquire Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will acquire all outstanding shares of Sigma-Aldrich for $140 per share, which would represent a 37 percent premium to Sigma-Aldrich's closing stock price of $102.37 on Sept. 19. The deal is anticipated to be immediately accretive to Merck's EPS pre and EBITDA margin, the companies said, and Merck anticipates achieving annual synergies of about €260 million ($334 million) within three years after the completion of the acquisition. In a statement, Merck KGaA Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley called the deal a "quantum leap" for the company's life science business, whose contributions to the German firm's overall earnings would more than double with the addition of Sigma-Aldrich. "In one of the world's key industries two companies that fit perfectly together have found each other to present a much broader product offering to our global cus...

Roche said today that it will acquire Genia Technologies for $125 million in cash and up to $225 million in additional payments tied to milestones. Once the deal closes, Genia will be integrated into the Roche Sequencing Unit. Genia, based in Mountain View, Calif., has been developing a single-molecule sequencing-by-synthesis technology that uses nanopore-based electrical detection and employs a semiconductor integrated circuit. Last fall, Genia and its academic collaborators at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology published proof of concept for their NanoTag sequencing technology. According to Roche, Genia's technology "is expected to reduce the price of sequencing while increasing speed and sensitivity." Roche has also been working with Pacific Biosciences on developing a sequencing system and assays for clinical diagnostics using PacBio's single-molecule real-time sequencing technology. Last fall,...

In continuation to BioSaga's pursuit to cover the PerkinElmer's Layoff Saga The Layoffs Continue...  The story now is never-ending, here is the latest! PerkinElmer reduced its headcount by 74 employees in the fourth quarter of 2013, bringing the total headcount reduction during the year to 430, it disclosed in its Form 10K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. During the fourth quarter, the company approved a restructuring plan to shift certain R&D activity resources to a newly opened Center for Innovation, resulting in the 74 layoffs. All employees were notified of their termination by Dec. 29, 2013. A total of $3.9 million was recorded in severance payments related to the layoffs in Q4 2013, PerkinElmer said, adding remaining severance payments of $2.0 million for workforce reductions will be "substantially completed" by the end of Q2 2014. The company had previously disclosed it laid off 30 employees in Q3; 265 employees ...

PerkinElmer Reduces Headcount by More than 400 in 2012 PerkinElmer reduced its workforce by 62 employees during the first quarter as part of a restructuring plan, PerkinElmer Lays off 265 in Second Quarter PerkinElmer laid off 265 employees during the second quarter, the company said in its Form 10-Q today. In the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it said that the reduction in workforce was part of a restructuring plan to move some of its operations into a newly established shared service center and to realign operations, R&D resources, and production resources as a result of previous acquisitions. During the company's recent second quarter earnings conference call , PerkinElmer Chairman and CEO Robert Friel said that the firm had consolidated three North American facilities, "and efforts are underway to consolidate two additional legacy Caliper sites, further simplifying our operational footprint and improving our R&D effi...

Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM), Gujarat Venture Finance Limited (GVFL) & Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) along with SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd. (Knowledge Partner) PRESENTS BIOTECHNOPRENEUR TM  CAMPS 2012 Life Sciences | Medical Devices | Biotechnology | Pharmaceuticals Fostering Technology based Entrepreneurship in Gujarat The journey of Biopreneur Camps 2011 from Surat, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Baroda and Ahmedabad saw 100 participants at each venue; graced by the presence of eminent guests including Mr. Ketan Patel, MD, Troikaa Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Director, The Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), Govt. of Gujarat; Dr. Ravi Dhar, Senior Consultant – Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Programme (BIRAP) of Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, Dr. V. S. Patel, Ex-Vice Chancellor, S. P. University and Director, Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre for Applied Research and Testing (SICART) and many more in additio...

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  

In continuation to the earlier story  UK and India Partner on $32M Agriculture Program   The life sciences industry leaders from both India and UK came together in London in early December to strengthen the business ties between the nations in this sector A delegation of biotech industry leaders from India traveled to the UK to meet with their counterparts to renew and forge new ties for a week in December. The Indian delegation’s visit to London was facilitated by the government agency, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).  The visit certainly opened the eyes of Indian entrepreneurs to the opportunities for strategic collaboration with their UK counterparts. Many formal agreements can be expected in 2011. Do you wish to know more?

The UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council will manage a new grant program that will use £20 million ($31.7 million) to fund a range of research projects in the UK and India aimed at improving food security in the developing world, according to BBSRC. Funded by BBSRC, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Department for International Development, and the Indian Department of Biotechnology, the new initiative will award grants to support research approaches, which could include genomics, to improve the sustainability of food crops. The funding under the  Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development Initiative  will be awarded to research teams that can show how their work may improve food security and boost crop sustainability within the next five-to-10 years. The new initiative will place particular emphasis on improving the "sustainable production of staple food crops across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia," Sam Dryde...

Sandoz has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oriel Therapeutics, a privately held US pharmaceuticals company, gaining exclusive rights to a portfolio of generic drug candidates and related technologies targeting medicines in the inhalable respiratory drug market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The latter focuses on developing respiratory products with known pathways as generic alternatives to patented drugs for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The acquisition provides the former with three development projects targeting leading medicines in this field. Regulatory approvals of these medicines, if achieved, would enable the former to increase access to affordable, quality therapeutic alternatives for these increasingly prevalent diseases. Details of the latter's development programs, including anticipated timing of future regulatory submissions, are not disclosed for competitive reasons. The acquisition of the latter, which will be integrated as ...

Sandoz has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oriel Therapeutics, a privately held US pharmaceuticals company, gaining exclusive rights to a portfolio of generic drug candidates and related technologies targeting medicines in the inhalable respiratory drug market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The latter focuses on developing respiratory products with known pathways as generic alternatives to patented drugs for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The acquisition provides the former with three development projects targeting leading medicines in this field. Regulatory approvals of these medicines, if achieved, would enable the former to increase access to affordable, quality therapeutic alternatives for these increasingly prevalent diseases. Details of the latter's development programs, including anticipated timing of future regulatory submissions, are not disclosed for competitive reasons. The acquisition of the latter, which will be integrated as ...

Nick Loman at Pathogens: Genes and Genomes says that the key players emerging third-generation sequencing market are comparable to the Intel x86 family and its famed competitor, reduced instruction set computing — or RISC — chips in the early 1990s. "Despite the seeming obvious killer advantages … RISC chips resoundingly failed in the desktop PC market, never challenging Intel’s dominance," Loman recalls. He writes that labs considering which third-gen sequencing instruments to invest in is "very similar to the common nerd dilemma: buy a new laptop now, or wait for the next model?" Loman wonders whether the theory behind Moore's law will hold true for the transition from second- to third-generation sequencing technologies. "I propose that Illumina are Intel, and the Genetic Analyzer family — GA1, GA II, GAIIx, HiSeq 2000 — are x86. Life Tech is AMD, producing similar technology with much reduced market share," Loman writes, adding that "the thir...

In a major advancement in influenza science, India is ready with its first indigenous vaccine against H1N1 swine flu. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has developed a H1N1 vaccine — not a painful syringe shot but a harmless nasal spray — which can be used by anybody above the age of three except pregnant women. To cost around Rs 150, SII will apply to the drug controller general for licensure of its product next week. Scientists, who are presently completing tabulation of results from the vaccine’s phase-III clinical trial, say it is safe and effective with side-effects being runny nose and a bout of sneezing. Interestingly, the breakthrough comes exactly a year after India reported its first case of swine flu (May 15, 2009). Confirming this to TOI, SII’s executive director (operations) Adar Poonawala said, “Our nasal mist vaccine is now ready. We will apply for licensure next week. It had no side-effects which are synonymous to injectible vaccines like fever, swelling or conv...

Agilent Technologies said after the close of the market Friday that it has completed the roughly $1.5 billion acquisition of Varian. Completion of the deal was announced a day after Agilent said that the European Commission has informed the firm that it had met the conditions set forth in January for the acquisition of Varian. Those conditions included the divestiture of certain product lines, which were recently sold to Bruker. Agilent said today that the majority of Varian's product lines will become part of the Chemical Analysis Group, with some key businesses being housed in Agilent's Life Sciences Group. Adding to Agilent's portfolio of mass spectrometry, liquid and gas chromatography, and array products, the firm's life sciences business gains Varian's nuclear magnetic resonance, MRI, and X-ray products. "These technology platforms will open new doors for Agilent and its customers," Nick Roelofs, Agilent's senior VP and president of LSG, said in ...

Various positions are open at Biocon-India currently (even for fresh graduates) Please go through this link: http://www.biocon.com/biocon_careers_job.asp Submit your resumes at careers@biocon.com Manager Sr Manager/Deputy General Manager - HR Senior Scientist - Process development cell culture-R&D Scientist / Sr. Scientist - RND - ANF Manager / Sr. Manager - Production Sr. Manager - Phamacovigilance Jr. Executive - Production Executive - Production Junior Executive Toxicology ...

Biotech companies return to profitability Biotechnology companies worldwide turned a profit last year for the first time since at least 1985 due to reduced spending on research and increased revenue. Profit in the industry was $3.7 billion, compared with a loss of $1.8 billion in 2008, according to a report Wednesday on biotechnology in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia by London-based Ernst & Young Global. The company has compiled its report annually for 24 years. Research and development spending in the U.S. fell 13 percent last year, with about two-thirds of companies cutting those expenses as capital for some grew scarcer, said Glen Giovannetti, leader of Ernst & Young's global biotech unit. Sixty percent of European firms reduced research costs. At the same time, overall sales increased in the industry, driven primarily by a small number of large companies with well-performing existing products, he said. "What we don't know is ...

The Small Business Administration has decided to raise the amount of Small Business Innovation Research program grants in both phases, with Phase I awards increasing from $100,000 to $150,000, and Phase II awards rising from $750,000 to $1 million. In 2008, SBA initially considered making the increases in the grants in order to catch up with inflation. Following a comments period and analysis, the administration has decided to implement the increases. The current award value of $100,000 and $750,000 was originally set in 1992. SBA has the authority to increase the amount of the award every five years. SBA said in an announcement in the Federal Register that adjusting the threshold of awards up to $150,000 and $1 million "adequately offsets the general effects of inflation, maintains a degree of stability and simplicity to the threshold levels, and continues to provide participating agencies with an appropriate degree of flexibility in award size." In determin...

Roche Diagnostics said today that it has struck a deal with Salt Lake City-based BioMicro Systems to buy all of the products associated with the Roche NimbleGen microarray workflow. These assets include instruments that are key to the Roche NimbleGen microarray workflow, such as the 4-and-12-bay NimbleGen Hybridization Systems. Roche said that it will transfer the manufacturing capabilities associated with these products to its own in-house facility. "Acquiring these assets will allow Roche complete control over the production, support, and service of these products to ensure continued timely distribution, full support, and the high level of service our customers have grown to expect from Roche," Roche NimbleGen VP of Marketing Andreas Görtz said in a statement. NimbleGen originally partnered with BioMicro for custom hybridization for its chips in 2007, before it was acquired by Roche later that year. Financial terms of the agreement were not released.

Merck KGaA has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Millipore for $7.2 million in a cash deal that would create a life science research products giant with around $2.9 billion in annual revenues. The firms announced the deal yesterday — several days after reports that Thermo Fisher Scientific had made a $6 billion bid for Millipore. Under terms of the deal, Darmstadt, Germany's Merck will pay $107 per share for all of Millipore's stock for a total transaction value of roughly $7.2 billion. The deal values Millipore at 4.4 times its 2009 sales of $1.65 billion. "By combining Millipore's bioscience and bioprocess knowledge with our own expertise in serving pharma customers, we will be able to unlock value in our chemicals business and transform it into a strong growth driver for Merck," Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA. "Through this acquisition, we will expand the overall product offering of the Merck Group, using the...

Millipore said late last night that its board of directors is evaluating "strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value," including a potential merger or sale of the company. Millipore's statement comes two days after Bloomberg reported that Thermo Fisher Scientific had made a $6 billion b id for the firm. Millipore confirmed that it has hired Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor and Cravath, Swaine & Moore as its legal advisor to assist the board in its evaluation. Millipore also said that it has not set a timetable for completing the evaluation and cannot assure that it will lead to any transaction. In early Wednesday trade on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Millipore were up 3 percent at $91.50. Its shares are up 28 percent for the week.

In effort to make Karnataka Biotechnology Capital of Asia, the State government , on Wednesday, launched ‘Millennium Biotech policy II’ a successor to Biotech Policy issued of 2001. Releasing the policy, Principal Secretary IT, BT S&T Ashok Kumar Manoli said the new policy will provide all fiscal incentives and concessions under Karnataka Industry policy 2009-14 to bio technology industry and the R&D centres. Biotech organisations will get incentives including a subsidy of 50 per cent for setting up effluent treatment plants. The financial incentives includes assistance for patent tracking and patent registration. According to the new policy biotech will be treated as special industrial consumers and provided with dedicated power lines that are exempt from power cuts. It also assures power connection to biotech companies within 10 days of applications. Bioinforamtics companies that use up to 50 KVA power will be permitted to be established without any local restrict...