GE Healthcare announces its first healthcare public private partnership in India

GE Healthcare has signed a contract with the government of Madhya Pradesh and Sanya Hospitals and Diagnostic center to provide quality healthcare services at affordable costs. This is GE Healthcare's first public private partnership in India in the healthcare sector.

Under the partnership, GE Healthcare will help set up an advanced, hi-tech diagnostic centre at the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College Hospital in Jabalpur. The diagnostic center will be equipped with a GE Lightspeed 16-slice computed tomography system and a Signa HDx1.5 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Sanya Hospitals and Diagnostic center will provide the diagnostic imaging services at the new imaging centre at an affordable cost. The installation of GE LightSpeed is complete and will be inaugurated by the health minister, Ajay Vishnoi.

V Raja, president and CEO, GE Healthcare, India, said "This partnership envisages our vision to make advanced healthcare technology affordable and accessible to needy patients across the country. Our ambition is to take this model forward in the state as well as across the country, creating a wave of transformation in the Indian healthcare industry."

Agilent announces the biggest analytical instruments sale in India

Agilent Technologies announced its biggest sale to date of analytical instrumentation in India. The sale includes more than 50 instruments, mainly rapid resolution liquid chromatography (RRLC) systems, gas chromatography systems and headspace samplers to Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals. In addition to being Agilent's biggest sale in India, this is also Orchid's largest order from any chromatography manufacturer.

"We were interested in the RRLC system when Agilent introduced it to us," said Dr PV Naidu, Orchid vice president, QC and R&D. "This type of investment is based on much more than price," said Sanjeev Dhar, Agilent country operations manager, India. "First, the instruments must deliver consistently good results, year-in and year-out. Second, they must easily integrate into existing workflows. Third, they must be extremely reliable. We're pleased that orchid recognized these qualities in Agilent products and support services in this highly competitive environment."

University of Leeds publishes results with Waters Synapt High Definition MS System

Waters Corporation has announced that the University of Leeds' Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology has published the results of protein research conducted with its newly-acquired Waters Synapt High Definition MS (HDMS) System in the Journal of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (JASMS).

The Synapt HDMS System is being used by the Ashcroft Laboratory to study the function of biological molecules. In an article appearing in the December 2007 issue of the JASMS, researchers at Leeds describe the successful separation and analysis of various folded forms of the proteins cytochrome c and beta-2-microglobulin, an achievement the Ashcroft Laboratory hopes will lead to a more complete understanding of the biological processes responsible for amyloid fibril formation, bacterial pilus aggregation and virus capsid assembly--all associated with debilitating diseases.

Proteins are carefully folded, three-dimensional long-chain molecules assembled by the human body. When properly folded they regulate normal bodily functions. Several high profile diseases, including Alzheimer's, Creuzfeldt-Jakob's, and Parkinson's, can develop when certain proteins normally folded into a particular shape become misfolded, causing a chain of events that can lead to self-aggregation and amyloid fibril formation.

MWG, Operon to join hands

Operon Biotechnologies, Eurofins MWG and Eurofins Medigenomix, all part of the Eurofins Genomics network, announced that they have agreed to work together in order to create a new worldwide leader in the competitive custom oligonucleotide market. With about $50 million in revenue and state-of-the-art high-throughput production facilities in all major markets (North America, Europe and Asia) the new network of companies intends to offer the market an unrivalled level of performance and efficiency in the custom DNA service area.

"Enabling Operon and Eurofins Genomics subsidiaries Eurofins MWG and Eurofins Medigenomix to work together strengthens our position in the custom oligonucleotides business and creates new opportunities for further development of additional services in the genomic services field. This will give the market, and in particular Eurofins customers in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food and environment industries access to improved DNA services and innovative DNA-based testing," said Bruno Poddevin, CEO, MWG and head of the Eurofins Genomics Services Cluster.