Praj Industries has successfully commissioned a biomethanation plant based on Ecomet-XT (MTR technology) at Balrampur Chini Mills (Babhnan unit) in Uttar Pradesh. According to company officials, the plant can generate more gas from the same feed as compared to the conventional technologies.

Further to tap the markets in Central and South America and in the Caribbean, Praj has set up a separate project office, which will become operational from this month. Since January 2004, Praj has bagged five orders from different sugar mills in Colombia for installation of ethanol plants. Besides Colombia, Praj has bagged significant orders from Australia and Thailand. Praj won a contract for a 140,000-liters per day grain distillery plant from Australian Biofuels Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of INDCOR). The plants design can facilitate the use of various types of grains available in that region as feed. It also has contract from Khon Kaen Alcohol Company Ltd (KSL) of Thailand for an ethanol plant based on cane molasses and cane syrup for production of gasohol. The 100,000 liters per day distillery is attached to the Khon Kaen sugar mill located at Nampong in Thailand.

Medispec to distribute Wealtec products

Medispec Instruments India Ltd (MIIL) has entered into an exclusive distributorship agreement with Wealtec Corp. of the US to market the latter's Dolphin series of gel documentation systems in India. Its product range includes Dolphin-view, a standalone system; Dolphin-doc, a standard unit for image capturing; Dolphin-chemi with peltier cooled CCD camera for chemilumiscence; and Dolphin scan systems and powerful dolphin 1d image analysis software. MIIL, an ISO certified organization, has over the past five years established itself strongly in the gel-doc systems market and considers this relationship will further help it to consolidate its position in the market place. Vipul Chhatbar, managing director, MIIL informed that Wealtec's products will be available as exstock in easy local currency and help customers save on long wait after placing order and cumbersome import procedures.

Cambrex introduces protein delivery reagents

Cambrex Bio Science Rockland Inc., a subsidiary of Cambrex Corp., has announced the availability of the Passport Protein Delivery Reagent, a tool for non-cytotoxic delivery of biologically active cargo molecules such as proteins, peptides, or small molecules, directly into living cells.

The reagent provides easy methods to study cell and protein function, while avoiding the problems of DNA transfections. Several cell lines and primary cells have been transfected with the Passport Reagent, including human bronchial epithelial cells, human epidermal keratinocytes, aortic smooth muscle cells, HUVEC and human dermal fibroblasts.

Kendro acquires H+P Labortechnik

Kendro Laboratory Products has strengthened its commitment to growth in the life science market with the acquisition of H+P Labortechnik AG. H+P is a company that provides sterilizers, high performance stirrers, and biosafe wastewater sterilizers.

"H+P has a premier product position with a high quality image and many loyal customers resulting in a strong complementary fit to the brands and image of Kendro," said Dennis M Pope, president, Kendro. Following the acquisition, Dr Helmut Herz, founder of H+P, will be the managing director of the new organization, while Pope will be chairman of the H+P management board.

Alfa Laval acquires Biokinetics

Alfa Laval has acquired Biokinetics, the life science division of the Kinetics Group Inc. in the US. Biokinetics is an engineering and turnkey process systems provider and its primary product focus is on bioreactor modules, cell harvesting modules, purification modules and biodeactivation modules.

The acquisition will allow Alfa Laval to combine Biokinetics resources with Alfa Laval's global presence and move into the European and Asian markets. The combined offering will include process design, modules for unit operations and key components such as high-speed separators, compact heat exchangers, membranes, fluid handling equipment and parts and service.

Biokinetics was part of the US Filter Corp. till August 2000, when it was taken private in an investor-led buyout. Biokinetics, which has approximately 400 employees, is headquartered in Philadelphia and has facilities in North Carolina, California, Puerto Rico and Toronto.

VARDA Biotech scouts for JVs

Mumbai-based VARDA Biotech is looking actively to tap new joint venture and research partnership opportunities. The company is into strategic souring, contract manufacturing, custom synthesis, chiral synthesis and clinical research services, besides product development. Its product portfolio in biotech includes Taq DNA polymerase, neuro science products, hormones and enzymes, and lacto bacillus sporogenes. And in the pipeline are other products like Klentaq DNA polymerase for application in the diagnostic, forensic, clinical and research laboratories, DNA markers, Lysostaphin, etc. VARDA is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company and has several strategic alliances for product association and representations.

Thermo Electron acquires InnaPhase Corp.

Thermo Electron Corp., a global leader in analytical instruments, has completed the acquisition of InnaPhase Corp., a premier supplier of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for approximately $65 million in cash, subject to a post-closing adjustment. Headquartered in Philadelphia, InnaPhase has over 100 employees and expects revenues of approximately $26 million in 2004. With this acquisition, Thermo extends its position as the largest provider of LIMS products and services in the world. InnaPhase's flagship Watson LIMS is the leading product in drug development laboratories and the industry standard for bioanalytical applications. InnaPhase's products will be integrated with Thermo's informatics product line, which includes SampleManager, the leading LIMS for large analytical laboratories.

"The InnaPhase team brings deep industry expertise and world-class software development capabilities," commented Marijn E Dekkers, president and CEO, Thermo Electron Corp.

PerkinElmer, Vivascience tie-up for biomarkers

PerkinElmer Inc., a provider of drug discovery, life science research and analytical solutions and Vivascience AG, a supplier of products and technology solutions for protein purification and analysis and member of the Sartorius Group, have entered into a collaborative partnership and distribution agreement for biomarker screening and discovery.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vivascience will supply its patented membrane adsorber chromatography technology for capturing biomarkers to PerkinElmer. PerkinElmer will then combine the technology with its proprietary methods for elution to create fractionation and biomarker sample preparation kits. The kits will be integrated with PerkinElmer's automated platform for biomarker screening, which includes the MultiProbe II for automating the kits and the prOTOF 2000 MALDI O-TOF mass spectrometer for detecting the biomarkers.

"By working with Vivascience and taking advantage of both proven technologies and new developments across multiple product platforms, PerkinElmer's enhanced capabilities in biomarkers will bring substantial benefits to the customers we serve," said Peter Coggins, president, PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences.

Applied Biosystems, MDS expand JV

Applied Biosystems Group and MDS Inc. have signed an agreement to expand the scope of their joint venture in life science mass spectrometry. According to the agreement, MDS will pay $40 million for a 50 percent interest in intellectual property assets related to current Applied Biosystems MALDI Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometry systems and next-generation products under development, together with a 100 percent interest in certain MALDI TOF product-related manufacturing and research and development assets.

The Applied Biosystems Group develops and markets instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. MDS Inc. provides enabling products and services for the development of drugs and the diagnosis and management of disease. MDS Sciex is the analytical instrumentation and technology solutions division of MDS Inc. John A Rogers, president and CEO, MDS Inc. said, "The expansion of the joint venture will allow us to combine two highly capable research groups into one and will allow us to move forward in a more integrated way in MALDI TOF products and in the proteomics arena."

Waters ships new liquid chromatography products

Waters Corp. has announced shipment of its ACQUITY Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) instrument. UPLC is considered by many to be the next big thing in Liquid Chromatography (LC). Waters is understood to be the first company to introduce an end-to-end UPLC system offering specially designed column chemistries, hardware, software, and user documentation. "The aspects that scientists like best about UPLC are that the principles of the separation are identical to liquid chromatography and that the chromatographic performance is significantly better," stated Art Caputo, president, Waters Chromatography Division. The product is claimed to be the first-of-its-kind LC system designed to take full advantage of the potential of proprietary, sub two-micron particles to give scientists chromatographic run times that are up to 9X shorter than today's fastest HPLC systems, up to 2X better peak capacity or resolution and 3X better routine sensitivity. ACQUITY UPLC has been heralded as the most significant new LC product introduction in more than 30 years and it has received the coveted Pittcon Editor's Gold Award for best new product at Pittcon.

GE Healthcare offers whole genome bioarray

GE Healthcare, the combined entity of Amersham and GE Medical Systems, has announced the addition of a rat whole genome bioarray to its CodeLink microarray platform portfolio. With approximately 34,000 gene targets, the CodeLink rat whole genome bioarray is touted to provide the highest available content of any commercially available rat microarray on a single chip. It enables researchers detect genes expressed at ~ 0.3 copies per cell or 1:1,000.000.

This product is the first in a series of planned whole genome bioarrays from GE Healthcare. The mouse whole genome bioarray is scheduled to be launched later this year.

Sigma-Aldrich, Caliper to work together on genomics

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. and Caliper Life Sciences have announced that they would develop and co-market a series of automated turnkey solutions for a wide variety of applications in genomics, proteomics, and drug discovery. The two companies will develop a series of pre-optimized and validated automation protocols using Caliper's Sciclone ALH 3000 liquid handling workstation with a variety of Sigma-Aldrich's biochemicals and reagent kits. The first kits to have been automated include Sigma's Extract-N-Amp Blood and Tissue kits for the rapid extraction and subsequent amplification of genomic DNA from blood and animal tissues and HIS-Select Integrated Lysis and Purification (iLAP) plates, a platform for purifying recombinant proteins.

"Caliper Life Sciences, with its advanced liquid handling and LabChip technologies, is clearly on the leading edge of innovation when it comes to developing tools to accelerate drug discovery and basic research," commented Keith Jolliff, global strategic marketing manager, Sigma-Aldrich. "By combining Sigma-Aldrich's innovative molecular biology and proteomics kits with Caliper's strength in automation, we will be able to deliver true walk-away solutions to the research community," Jolliff said.

DPC, Compugen to collaborate in diagnostics

Diagnostic Products Corp. (DPC), a global provider of immunodiagnostic systems and reagents, has entered in to a broad diagnostic collaboration with Compugen, a genomics-based drug and diagnostic discovery company. The thrust will be on the development and commercialization of novel diagnostic products. According to the agreement, DPC can develop and commercialize immunoassay and nucleic acid-based diagnostic products based on Compugen discovered biomarkers, including certain biomarker candidates already discovered by Compugen, as well as additional candidates arising out of the collaboration. The unique discovery capability underlying this collaboration is provided by Compugen's discovery engines. Compugen is entitled to receive development milestone payments and royalties on the sales of the diagnostic products. In the cases like where discovered proteins may have therapeutic applications, Compugen will have the right to pursue further development in this field and DPC will be entitled to milestone payments and royalties from any successful therapeutic applications.

"We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to assess multiple high quality diagnostic biomarkers that have been discovered by Compugen," said Michael Ziering, president and CEO, DPC.