Inside Instrumentation

Thermo Electron to buy Kendro

Thermo Electron has agreed to acquire the Kendro Laboratory Products division of SPX Corp. for $834 million in cash. With estimated 2004 sales of $365 million, Kendro designs and sells equipment for sample preparation, processing, and storage in life sciences, clinical, and drug discovery labs. Thermo has a commitment for a $600 million line of credit to help finance the acquisition. SPX acquired the business, known at the time as Revco and having annual sales of $75 million, with its 1998 acquisition of General Signal.

Chromatography columns updated

Several companies are introducing new chromatography columns. Phenomenex, based in Torrance, Calif., has debuted its Onyx monolithic HPLC columns, which are packed with silica gel rather than silica particles. The offerings include normal and reversed-phase columns for applications in various industries. Anoka, Minn.-based ZirChrom Separations will introduce a new HPLC column, the ZirChrom-Select, at the Pittsburgh Conference later this month. Compared with traditional bonded C₁₈ silica columns, the zirconia-based column offers different selectivity and improved peak shape. On the GC side, Varian, Palo Alto, Calif., has expanded its FactorFOUR line of capillary GC columns to nine phases for industrial and environmental applications.

IR systems for manufacturing

Two companies have introduced new infrared instruments. Thermo Electron's new FTIR spectrometer, the Nicolet 380, is aimed at quality-control labs in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and polymer industries. Software guides the user through experiments, and a package is available to verify compliance with ISO and Good Laboratory and Good Manufacturing Practices. Axsun Technologies, Billerica, Mass., launched its IntegraSpec XP near-IR spectrometer at the International Forum on Process Analytical Technology, held last month in Arlington, Va. The rugged, miniaturized system is designed to allow rapid calibration transfer and application development in the pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

Firms debut ADME/Tox tools

Beckman Coulter and Thermo Electron have separately launched tools for studying the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADME/Tox) of drug candidates. Beckman has introduced the Biomek FX ADMETox Workstation for in vitro drug permeability measurements. The unit automates parallel artificial membrane permeability analysis technology from Beckman's partner pION Inc. for determining passive absorption through an artificial lipid membrane. Thermo, meanwhile, is offering its LeadStream ADME/Tox Solution. It consists of three integrated instrumentation modules and software to collect and report data from screens across multiple assay types.

Applied Biosystems offers Fast PCR unit

Applied Biosystems Inc. (ABI) launched its 7500 Fast Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system and an upgrade kit for its original 7500 system to the Fast configuration. Designed for basic research, the system reduces real-time PCR run times from about two hours to less than 40 minutes. "Because the system employs 96-well format plates, it can easily be integrated into existing laboratory workflows," says Carl W. Hull, ABI vice president and general manager for real-time PCR systems and microarrays. In October 2004, the company introduced the 7900HT Fast Real-Time PCR and 9800 Fast PCR systems.

Mass spec units target drug, elemental analysis

Applied Biosystems and MDS Sciex have unveiled the API 5000 LC/MS/MS system, a triple quadrupole analyzer for small-molecule quantification. The companies say the system offers an average ninefold increase in sensitivity and fourfold improvement in signal-to-noise ratio over other commercially available systems. It is expected to be used in drug safety and efficacy studies of drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and ADME/Tox. For routine or high-performance elemental analysis, Thermo Electron has updated its XSeries^II ICP-MS. The quadrupole unit uses a new ion extraction system for improved detection.

EXECUTIVE ROUNDUP

Agilent Technologies has elected William P. Sullivan, 55, as its next CEO and president, effective March 1. He is currently the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer and will succeed Edward W. Barnholt, 61, who is retiring.

Beckman Coulter has appointed Scott Garrett, 55, as its CEO, effective Feb. 21. He adds the CEO title to his current role as president and succeeds current CEO and President John P. Wareham, 63.

Illumina has named William Rastetter, 56, nonexecutive chairman of the board. He will continue to serve as Biogen Idec's full-time executive chairman. John Stuelpnagel, 47, has been promoted to the new position of chief operating officer.

Inside Instrumentation is written by Celia M. Henry and Ann M. Thayer. Contact them via e-mail to instrumentation@acs.org.