Biotage

A new Biotage was created in December 2003 when Pyrosequencing, a company started in 1997 with a focus on genomic analysis, acquired Personal Chemistry and Biotage, firms that were focused on equipment for microwave-assisted synthesis and small-molecule purification, respectively.

The latter two companies were combined into a "discovery chemistry" group, in part because both were serving medicinal and high-throughput chemistry markets, Biotage through purification and Personal Chemistry through synthesis, says Kelvin Hammond, vice president of business development of the discovery chemistry group at Biotage. The histories of the two companies have, in a sense, run parallel, he says, with a similar customer base.

At the moment, being optimistic about the life sciences equipment market requires glasses with a slight rose-colored tint. In August, though, Swedish Handelsbanken analysts Astrid Samuelsson and Patrik Ling reported that they see an upcoming "turnaround" in this market. The tough investment climate in the pharma industry has hit sales of Pyrosequencing instruments, but the analysts project double-digit sales growth for both the Personal Chemistry and Biotage product lines.

Third-quarter sales for biosystems, which includes the Pyrosquencing product lines, were $2.9 million, down from $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2003, while for discovery chemistry, sales reached $9.0 million, down from $9.1 million a year ago. A three-month delivery delay in a newly launched purification system dragged sales figures down in this year's quarter, Biotage says.

Biotage hopes that microwave technology will become the methodology of choice for any heating reaction. "There are things that we as a company have to do to make that happen," Hammond says. Part of the company strategy, he says, is to empower chemists to be able to undertake whatever they wish, without needing to become a chromatographer, for example.

Biotage offers a modular system of microwave synthesis and purification. Many chemists, however, shy away from too much integration that could lock them out of a technological advance from another company. "We have to be aware of that," Hammond acknowledges.