The US Federal Drug Administration Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory has increased the efficiency of preparing its agar plates for microbiological research using an INTEGRA MEDIAJET vario automated petri dish filling system.

Located in Dauphin Island (AL), the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory (GCSL) site is used by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) to conduct research programs related to seafood safety, especially seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. The US FDA operates a mandatory safety program for all fish and fishery products under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, and related regulations. The FDA program includes research, inspection, compliance, enforcement, outreach and the development of regulations and industry guidance...

Analytik, leading suppliers of innovative analytical instrumentation, are pleased to announce the availability of the TerraSpec Halo mineral identifier from PANalytical Boulder (formerly ASD Inc). 

Analytik has announced the UK and Ireland release of the TerraSpec Halo, a lightweight, portable, full range near-infrared spectrometer designed to revolutionise the mineral exploration process. With a simple push of a button, the TerraSpec Halo delivers mineralogy results in a matter of seconds, a rapid method to identify minerals and decrease associated exploration costs... 

XEI Scientific Inc, maker of the popular EVACTRON^® De-Contaminator™ Plasma Cleaning System for electron microscopes and other vacuum chambers, has appointed remX GmbH, as distribution partners for their decontamination products in Germany. 

XEI Scientific has appointed new distributors for Germany. remX GmbH is a company specializing in hardware and software solutions for Scanning Electron Microscopes for industry and universities. Their specialty is in microscopy-based techniques such as electron microscopy and detectors such as EDX and SDD. They will also cover other European countries, particularly those speaking German. These include Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Switzerland (German speaking regions only) and the Netherlands... 

Planning has been granted by Cambridge City Council for The Forum, an innovative £120 million mixed-use medical and education facility on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

The Forum, designed by architects NBBJ, is the product of a pioneering joint venture between John Laing and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHT). Consisting of a post-graduate medical education centre, 900 delegate conference centre, 90-bed private hospital, and four-star hotel, The Forum will bring together local, national and international medical professionals, researchers and academics from around the world all focused on the development of life-changing treatments....

This month laboratory autoclave manufacturer Priorclave announces the availability of a very much extended range of autoclave consumables.  

Over 70 scientists from 16 countries are due in Nottingham this week for the biennial Scientific Laboratory Show and Conference at the East Midlands Conference Centre on the University of Nottingham campus.

This is the largest gathering of leading academic and commercial scientific experts in the city for several years, for what has become an occasion of real scientific value for leading manufacturers and for visiting international delegates. The three-day event is organised by Nottingham-based Scientific Laboratory Supplies Ltd, in association with the Royal Society of Chemistry and is further recognition of the city’s growing influence in the UK’s life sciences business sector....

Tim Freeman, Managing Director, and Dr Xiaowei Fu, Product Specialist at Freeman Technology, will deliver four oral presentations relating to aspects of powder characterisation and critical powder handling issues at the 7th World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT7) taking place from 19-22 May 2014 in Beijing, China.

Tim Freeman is an invited speaker at the Particle Design: Formulation and Processing session, where he will present ‘A QbD Approach to Continuous Tablet Manufacture’. This talk will focus on the use of powder characterisation to measure material properties that directly correlate with the quality attributes of a finished product to support the development of continuous processes...

Seward Ltd., manufacturer of the world leading range of original Stomacher^® paddle blenders and accessories used in sample preparation for microbiological analysis, has increased production capacity for Stomacher^® blender bags with additional manufacturing in the UK.

By locally manufacturing its range of Stomacher^® 400 and 3500 mL bags at its UK facility, Seward has now reduced delivery lead times for its European customers and also minimised its environmental footprint. Seward already ensures rapid supply of Stomacher products through local bag manufacture and stocking from regional sites in USA and Singapore to fully support its customers worldwide. In addition to reducing delivery times, this policy for local manufacture and stocking also helps to minimise the impact of...

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics business, announces that it has acquired Selah Genomics, Inc. and DiaSpect Medical AB.

Sweden based DiaSpect manufactures desktop hemoglobin analyzers, whilst Selah, of South Carolina is a service provider that supplies molecular diagnostics tests for the development of personalized medicine. The integration of DiaSpect’s product line into the existing portfolio of EKF hemaglobin analyzers will enable the provision of an analyzer to meet any need....

Chemistry engineering specialists Vapourtec (Suffolk, UK) has reached the notable landmark of appearing in 125 peer reviewed publications, making it the clear global leader in terms of research breakthroughs and published findings for flow chemistry systems.

Vapourtec systems have been used in some notable published breakthroughs including the recent research from a leading academic group headed by Professor Steven V Ley at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry into more efficient production methods for breast cancer drug Tamoxifen utilised Vapourtec’s E-Series system. Also in 2012 the Innovative flow manufacturing route for Artemisinin, a drug that addresses Malaria, was published by Professor Peter Seeberger of the Max Planck Institute, Berlin....

Two award-winning laboratory service providers have joined forces to create greater synergy for customers.

Cleanroom manufacturer Connect2Cleanrooms and specialist laboratory relocation provider Andrew Porter Limited have formed a partnership agreement, which is set to complement and enhance each firm’s service provision. Connect2Cleanrooms already provides disassembly, relocation and revalidation of its modular cleanrooms, but the new partnership with Andrew Porter Limited will enable it to offer a full relocation service to include all contents of the cleanroom, such as instrumentation and cold chain materials....

FLIR Systems has announced that it has been named an Innovation Partner with Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

AMSBIO has announced the opening of a new North American headquarters with executive management facilities in Cambridge, MA. for its US subsidiary - AMSBIO LLC.

Commenting on this strategic move, Alex Sim (President, AMSBIO) said “The US is the single largest market for our stem cell and regenerative medicine, glycobiology enzymes / substrates and tissue derived products. Drawing upon upon our in-depth expertise in extracellular matrices we are able to also provide elegant solutions for studying cell motility, migration, invasion and proliferation”.  He added “Our North American customer base has been growing strongly...

A new case study has been published by Autoscribe, which highlights how its Matrix Gemini Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) was configured and implemented in just 3 months at global paper supplier, Glatfelter.

Glatfelter’s corporate analytical services group offers a wide range of analytical capabilities with some 15 instruments available. The laboratory performs multiple functions ranging from product development and process improvements to environmental analyses. With the laboratory conducting around 25,000 analyses per year, the major challenge for the LIMS was to manage the workflow for an efficient use of the facilities and a fast turn round of results....

Photonics Technology Roadshow will visit Cambridge University on 18th June, focussing on biophotonics techniques and light technologies for science and industry.

The Photonex Roadshow at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, will be a convenient and free opportunity for scientists and industrialists to attend a high level one-day conference and a 30-company exhibition. This event comprises an in-depth conference and a day-long programme of photonics tutorials focussing on latest techniques and instrumentation from leading scientists and technology experts....

This year's Analytica was another resounding success for JULABO. Visitors to the JULABO booth were drawn particularly to the new CORIO™ units.  The World of Temperature presentation and its impressive imagery was also met with enthusiasm by attendees of the trade fair.

Temperature professionals from JULABO have several reasons to look back with satisfaction at their exhibition at Analytica (April 1 to 4, 2014 in Munich). As the highlight of the show, JULABO introduced CORIO™, a completely new generation of laboratory circulators with several new features. These units are characterized by their new, modern design in addition to their extraordinarily low noise in operation. Visitors were particularly impressed by the bright, easily readable display, the centrally placed mains switch, and the easy-to-operate pump switch. The new CORIO™ units will replace the existing Economy series of circulators....

The leading fluid analysis instrument company formerly known as Spectro Inc. has announced at its Global Partners Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada that it has officially changed its name and undergone a comprehensive corporate rebranding. “From today forward the company becomes Spectro Scientific to more accurately reflect our deep roots in the science of fluids analysis,” said president and CEO Brian Mitchell.  

Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, announces the appointment of Udit Batra, Ph.D. as its incoming President and CEO, responsible for the organization’s strategic direction to drive growth and product innovation as well as oversight of the worldwide operations.

Dr. Batra will assume leadership effective May 15, 2014 and be based at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts. “As a global leader in the Life Sciences industry, I am very humbled and excited to be a part of Merck Millipore team and look forward to serving our customers globally,” Dr. Batra said. “As a former researcher who personally utilized the strong differentiated products that Merck Millipore offers, I have watched this organization develop over the past several years, and look forward to....

A second grant of 230 000 dollars (USD) from the Michael J. Fox Foundation supports further development

Domain Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of new drug candidates targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announces the receipt of a second grant of 230 000dollars (USD) from The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research to support its metabotropic glutamate receptor type III (mGluR3) positive allosteric modulators (PAM) program. The MJFF first supported the initial stages of this program in 2012 through a 300 000 dollars (USD) grant...

In March 2014, Chester (UK)-based calibration standards specialist Whitehouse Scientific continued their co-sponsorship of the Philippines national team in the second Street Child World Cup held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During the 10-day tournament, Dr Graham Rideal, CEO of Whitehouse Scientific, was able to catch up with one particular team member from the Philippines who he had met previously while undertaking voluntary work in Manila. Crystal was a member of the Philippines girls team which beat South Africa, El Salvador, England and Mozambique before losing by just one goal to host nation Brazil in the final. Dr Rideal, takes a very active role in working with street children in the Philippines. “The highlight for me was meeting Crystal again. She was born in a municipal cemetery and was raised on the street, scavenging for food and shelter,”...

Molecular Profiles Ltd., a subsidiary of Columbia Laboratories, Inc., (Nasdaq: CBRX), is set to increase awareness and uptake of its pharmaceutical development services in the North American market following the appointment of a new head of US sales.

The development and manufacturing services provider, which has a well-established track record for meeting objectives while tightening development timelines for its clients, has hired Charles D. Maher to expand its client base in the US. Mr Maher brings extensive senior commercial experience in the global contract services market to this newly-created position....

Porvair Filtration Group has successfully completed delivery of the Posco Energy char filter contract to the customer’s schedule at the Gwangyang Steel Plant in South Korea.

This is the first CB&I E-Gas project outside of the US and one of a number of major gasification projects in which Porvair Filtration Group has had a significant input, providing the necessary critical filtration of the syngas downstream of the gasifier and heat exchanger to remove the erosive and abrasive char that would damage downstream equipment and processes. The $10-15M agreement with POSCO E&C to supply char filtration equipment for the project at the Gwangyang facility in South Korea was signed...