Clostridium difficile and norovirus appear to be the main causes of concern for infection control professionals as we enter the winter months according to the latest survey.

Conducted at Infection Prevention 2013, the survey revealed that 48% of the respondents highlighted C difficile as the primary cause of concern and 36% highlighted norovirus. Carried out by Bioquell, a provider of no-touch infection control solutions to the healthcare industry, the survey of 170 infection control nurses and senior practitioners were asked to rank various pathogens in order of priority and also indicate any others that they were concerned about....

A recent academic paper published in the journal Organic Process Research and Development by the Group of Prof Steven V. Ley, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge (UK) outlines a possible breakthrough for the manufacture of breast cancer drug Tamoxifen involving flow chemistry technology developed by UK specialist chemical engineering firm Vapourtec.

A prominent feature in the success of the research carried out, profiled in the article “Continuous flow-processing of organometallic reagents using an advanced peristaltic pumping system and the telescoped flow synthesis of (E/Z)-tamoxifen”, was the use of Vapourtec’s E-Series flow chemistry system that enables the processing of organometallic reagents....

Developed as an alternative to B27® * - GS21 from AMSBIO is a next generation serum-free neural media supplement, based on the formulation of NS21 Supplement, designed to improve the overall growth and performance of primary neurons.

GS21 has been specifically optimized for the maturation and long-term viability of primary rat and mouse neurons in culture, without the need for co-culture with astrocyte feeder cells. In experimental tests, GS21 has been shown to significantly improve long-term viability of rat and mouse primary neurons in vitro, as well as enhance neurite outgrowth of primary neurons in culture. Beneficially, GS21 also supports growth and maintenance of primary neurons at low or high cell density plating...

High profile group members drawn from research and industry

Malvern Instruments is marking the second anniversary of the market leading Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction particle sizing system with the introduction of a host of innovative software updates and an extension to the Mastersizer family, the Mastersizer 3000E.

A global leader for particle sizing, Malvern’s Mastersizer range has become synonymous with laser diffraction. The Mastersizer 3000 delivers unique performance and productivity benefits, wrapped in a stylish, compact and practical instrument design. New software features, developed in response to customer feedback, now make it easier than ever to obtain accurate particle size information....

French government funding confirms the considerable potential of Nosopharm’s new class of antibiotics and ensures their progression to regulatory preclinical development  

Nosopharm specializes in the research and development of new anti-infective drugs, today announces that it has secured funding of EUR 870,000 (USD 1.18 million). The company is receiving this funding as part of the OOPERA project (Odilorhabdin: Preclinical optimization and study to combat antibiotic resistance), which commenced in the first quarter of 2013 and is scheduled to last three years. A total of EUR 1.6 million (USD 2.2 million) in funding has been allocated to this project...

Photon Control Inc. is pleased to announce that their research and development partner Photon Control R&D Ltd. has received an NSERCC (Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada) Engage Grant with the University of Victoria to work in Collaboration with Dr. Alexandre G. Brolo and team on research of Raman Spectroscopy.

Dr. Alexandre G. Brolo (UVic Chemistry) is a specialist in nanomaterial’s and is world-renowned in the field of Raman spectroscopy, especially in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Dr. Brolo says, "collaborating with a local B.C. company provides a valuable learning opportunity to the University for applying research to a practical problem, which could make a positive impact to society in the future.”..

With the acquisition of GERO Hochtemperaturöfen GmbH & Co. KG, the VERDER Group extends the product portfolio of its Scientific Division in the heat treatment segment.

The company is a leading manufacturer of vacuum furnaces and furnaces for applications under special atmosphere. The instruments are used both in industrial processes and research. The headquarters are located in Neuhausen near Stuttgart, where GERO generates a turnover of 7 Mio. €. Managing Director Roland Geiger founded the company more than 30 years ago. All instruments are developed, manufactured and assembled at the headquarters in Neuhausen. Sales and distribution have so far been focused on Europe, complemented by some activities on a worldwide level...

New Cherwell cleanroom manufacturing facility extended to over 950m²

Cherwell Laboratories, leading supplier of microbiology media and instruments for pharmaceutical and related industries, is continuing with the investment and expansion programme of its cleanroom production facilities. To increase capacity for future demand from Cherwell’s ever growing customer base, Phase II of the expansion programme will boost Redipor^® microbiological prepared media plate filling and bottle production capabilities. The new cleanroom facility will be further extended by 230m² to over 950m²...

NORTH West pharmaceutical company Proveca Limited has reached a key agreement with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that will enable the development of a new drug designed for children and young people.

The EMA’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) adopted a positive opinion on the paediatric investigation plan (PIP) for the development of Glycopyrronium – a drug designed to combat chronic pathological drooling (sialorrhoea) in children. Children living with motor or neurological disorders, such as cerebral palsy, are often unable to effectively swallow the saliva they produce resulting in unavoidable chronic drooling. Glycopyrronium will help to reduce this unintentional and disabling loss of saliva...

David Browning, a former CEO within Philips Healthcare and Consumer Lifestyle, has been appointed Director of MediCity, the new Nottingham-based health and wellness business incubator.  

MediCity, a collaboration between Alliance Boots and BioCity, is an incubator designed to provide a stimulating and supportive business development environment for innovators in consumer healthcare, medical technology, diagnostics, and beauty products. MediCity is based within the Nottingham Enterprise Zone on the Alliance Boots site in Beeston.  Businesses housed at MediCity will benefit from BioCity’s experience of growing successful businesses in specialised incubator environments and Alliance Boots expertise in the global healthcare market...

Pie Medical Imaging BV (PMI) announced today that they have signed an agreement with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) to begin a close collaboration.

Under this agreement the CRF Clinical Trials Center will use PMI’s solutions in their Angiographic Core Laboratory for clinical research and multi-center trials. As part of the agreement, CRF will also support further development of PMI’s new state-of-the-art products for analysis and visualization of medical images. The CRF Clinical Trials Center (CTC) plans and executes clinical investigations from first-in-man studies to large, multicenter, international trials and provides expert, independent qualitative and quantitative analyses of clinical and imaging data...

WHEATON^® and CryoXtract™ Announce Global Co-Marketing Agreement to Offer Optimal Solutions for Storing and Accessing Frozen Biosamples and Improving Scientific Outcomes

The companies will co-market WHEATON’s new CryoELITE^® Tissue Vial solution for frozen tissue samples and CryoXtract’s recently introduced CXT350 platform, which provides access to valuable frozen tissue and biofluid samples. WHEATON, a global leader in biosample storage solutions for the laboratory research, diagnostic and specialty pharmaceuticals industries, reached a non-exclusive global co-marketing agreement with CryoXtract Instruments, LLC, that will provide the scientific community with a totally unique set of solutions for the optimal storage, preservation and access of valuable frozen tissue samples...

A team of researchers from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated new multimodal optical microscopy technology that when coupled with advanced image co-registration algorithms, can account for soft-tissue deformations that may occur over the time-course of weeks and months.

This technology can visualize cellular-level structural, functional, and biomechanical data and provide new insights into complex processes in living tissue, such as skin.  This technology not only offers a new tool for basic science and pre-clinical investigations, but also offers the potential for human clinical investigations into the dynamics of skin regeneration and repair, the incorporation of engineered skin constructs, the effectiveness of new therapies for treating skin conditions such as non-healing diabetic ulcers, and for skin cosmesis applications...

Gel Electrophoresis specialists CLEAVER SCIENTIFIC will be exhibiting their range of innovative electrophoresis and related products at Lab Innovations - NEC, Birmingham 6th and 7th November 2013.

Among the products on display will be the revolutionary “Safe” series of electrophoresis products including:- runView – Let’s you see your samples separate out in real time on your lab bench, no transport of gels or dark room required. runDoc – The self-contained, low-cost bench-top gel documentation system that allows the capture of gel images in real time. runSafe – A completely safe stain for DNA that also doubles up as the sample loading buffer. Once again, Cleaver Scientific will be running a prize draw. 1^st prize is a Ipod and second prize a bottle of champagne!..

The Pittcon Organizing Committee has recently announced the topics for Conferee Networking during Pittcon 2014, which will be in Chicago, Illinois, McCormick Place, March 2-6, 2014.

Conferee Networking sessions are free to all registered attendees and provide an informal venue for a small group of participants to openly discuss topics of mutual interest or solve problems specific to certain instrumentation or procedures. This year, there are 31 facilitated sessions during Conference week covering topics in life science, chromatography, environmental science, fuel, analytical methods, lab procedures, quality control and more....

XEI Scientific Inc, awarded  US patent for an improved method and instrumentation for the production of oxygen radicals to be used in the cleaning of high vacuum instruments such as electron microscopes.

XEI is pleased to announce that the company has been granted a new US patent # US8507879B2 which describes a new oxidative cleaning method and system for electron microscopes and other high vacuum instrumentation using UV excitation in an oxygen radical source. The new method and apparatus comprises a vacuum ultraviolet light source housed in an irradiation chamber where it photo dissociates oxygen to be used downstream to clean the chamber or samples in the absence of the UV light....

In the year 1846 Carl Zeiss founded the Optical Workshop in Jena which was the beginning of the industrial production of analytical instruments worldwide.

In 1963 Carl Zeiss Jena introduced the spectrophotometer SPECORD^® that succeeded the Pulfrich photometer first presented in 1924. Even in those days, the SPECORD^® series was known for being "reliable, fast, extremely robust and universal". 2013 marked the 50^th anniversary of the SPECORD^®, one of the most successful analysis instruments from Jena. Analytik Jena acquired the product section of lab analysis technology from Carl Zeiss Jena in 1995....

Autoscribe, developers of the well-established Matrix family of Laboratory Information Management Systems, is delighted to announce the successful implementation of Matrix Gemini for pre-clinical pathology applications at one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies.

This is the most recent phase of a major project which began back in 2008. The project consists of a very complex sample tracking configuration that tracks the processing of samples, including time/date stamp and person through multiple laboratories all the way to archiving the final products. The first phase of the system went into production in 2008 providing only the processing component.  The second phase of the project enabled archiving capabilities and many error prevention and resolution functions. These enhancements provided an almost completely paperless system for tracking laboratory samples and accounting for individuals performing the tasks (tests) on these samples...

NEW for World Vaccine Congress TAP’s Cellmate Mk9 Automated Cell Culture System, Designed for Safe, High-throughput Viral Vaccine Production.

TAP Biosystems, a leading supplier of innovative cell culture systems and consumables for life science applications, announced that it will introduce its new Cellmate™ Mk9 automated cell culture system at the World Vaccine Congress in Lille, France. The new system is designed for safe, high throughput production of adherent cell-based vaccines in a GMP environment. Cellmate Mk 9 is an evolution of TAP’s well-established Cellmate technology which automates the manufacturing processes associated with production of vaccines using adherent cell-based methods in roller bottles and T-flasks within a Class 100 laminar airflow cabinet...

Quorum Technologies has recently relocated to a new, purpose-built factory and offices in the village of Laughton in East Sussex – an attractive, rural location on the edge of the South Downs National Park, yet with ready access to London, Gatwick airport and continental Europe.

The move has united the specimen preparation division (previously Emitech) and cryo preparation division in a single modern facility shared with Quorum’s sister company UHV Design, although both companies will continue to operate as distinct and separate businesses. “This superb new state-of-the-art facility has been designed and built to meet the specific needs of both companies” explained David Barnbrook, Managing Director of Quorum Technologies. “Built to the very highest design standards....

NanoSight reports on how Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, is being used at French company, Santen SAS, to use different nanoemulsions for applications in the treatment of the human eye.

Santen is a Japanese pharmaceutical company specializing in the development and manufacturing of ophthalmic products. Santen's products are available all over Europe and the company is the leading manufacturer of ophthalmic products in Northern Europe. Santen SAS, located in France, is the innovation center of Santen Pharmaceuticals. This is where the company incubates high technology projects...