Business
Opportunities Europe and Middle East
By Heather Hobbs
With expansion a prime focus for businesses worldwide, many are looking towards rapidly establishing new regions of growth, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. This section of Lab Asia will especially look at the success of both Asian and European companies with established premises or business partnerships, highlighting the opportunities that exist while realising potential for other companies to move into export markets.
Sony DADC BioSciences Receives Löhn Award
This annual award, in honour of Professor Dr Dr h.c. mult. Johann Löhn, who was instrumental in the technology transfer aspect of the Steinbeis Company, recognises outstanding projects that see the transfer of competitive technology and knowledge between science and business, along with effective collaboration and management skills. Sony DADC’s project focused on lowering the production costs of complex microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies to maximise potential of their use within the bioscience and pharmaceutical industries.
Pictured left to right: Professor Dr Dr h.c. mult. Johann Löhn, Ehrenkurator Steinbeis-Stiftung, Professor Dr-Ing. August Burr, Hochschule Heilbronn, Dipl.-Ing. Christian Pöschl, Sony DADC Dipl.-Ing. Martin Wallinger, Watlow Plasmatech GmbH and Prof. Dr. Heinz Trasch, Geschäftsführer Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG.
The Steinbeis Foundation (Germany) has awarded their 2011 Löhn Award to Sony DADC BioSciences for the transfer of highly dynamic variothermal (HDV) technology to Sony DADC in Anif, Austria.
Working with Watlow Plasmatech (Austria) designers and manufacturers of thermal solutions and the Steinbeis Transfer Centre for Plastics, Sony DADC BioSciences have been able to refine the manufacturing process for these plastic chips by controlling the temperature – highly dynamic variothermal (HDV) – during the injection moulding process. This solution was also said to be capable of being transferred into a large-scale production environment.
“We are proud of the work we have achieved with Watlow and Steinbeis and very honoured to receive this award in recognition of our collaborative partnership and technological advancements,” said Dr Christoph Mauracher, Senior Vice President at Sony DADC BioSciences. “By addressing the central challenge of chip manufacture through our collaboration, we are now closer to being able to offer it as a commercially viable solution for the industry.”
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 418 Hikma Enters Moroccan Market
Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc, a fast growing multinational pharmaceutical group, has acquired 63.9% of Société de Promotion Pharmaceutique du Maghreb SA, (the company Promopharm) from a consortium of shareholders comprising existing management, institutions and related parties, for an aggregate cash consideration of $111.2 million (MAD 912.8
million) and will launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining 36.1% of the Company. With a 3.5% market share and reporting more than $45 million in annual revenue, Promopharm will deliver a substantial local manufacturing presence for Hikma in Morocco, which is said to be the fourth largest pharmaceutical market within the MENA group of nations.
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 419 Sartorius Adds Pipettes to Lab Portfolio
Sartorius (Germany) is to acquire the liquid handling business of the Finnish laboratory supplier Biohit Oyj, one of the global market leaders for mechanical and electronic pipettes and associated consumables. The segment, which employs some 400 people, generated net sales of approximately €38 million and an EBITDA margin of approximately 13% in fiscal 2010. “Pipettes are the ideal addition to our laboratory product offering,” commented Dr Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO and Executive Board Chairman of Sartorius AG. “Just like our balances, they are among the most frequently used lab instruments with especially high customer requirements regarding their precision, reliability, safety and service support. Biohit is one of the leading suppliers in this field, known worldwide for innovative solutions and high quality. With this acquisition, we will substantially strengthen our strategic positioning
with our customers and move significantly toward our goal of serving as a broad-based supplier of high-quality laboratory instruments and consumables supported by excellent service." Welcoming the acquisition, Professor Osmo Suovaniemi, the founder as well as the Chairman of the Board of Biohit Oyj, said, “We are really happy to have found a buyer in Sartorius whose strategic objective is an excellent fit with our liquid handling business and who will continue to further develop it on a global basis. Access to the strong global market presence and customer base of Sartorius will provide excellent prospects for growth. "Subject to the acquisition are all assets of the liquid handling segment of Biohit Oyj, including its production facilities in Finland and China, as well as its sales subsidiaries in eight countries. The acquisition s expected to close in December 2011.
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 420
Exco InTouch, a provider of mobile patient communication solutions was presented with a European Outsourcing Award at a ceremony held in Frankfurt in October. Its second EOA award, the company received ‘Best eBusiness/IT strategy’, in recognition of its collaboration with Pfizer. The study, said to be the first Participatory Patient-Centred (PPC) clinical trial to be conducted, was facilitated with the use of mobile eDiary technology which enabled patients to participate regardless of location, age or proximity to site.
CEO Tim Davies said: “It is a great honour to win an award that recognises the collaboration between Exco InTouch and Pfizer and the integral part Exco’s leading ePRO technology played in the revolutionary study. Together we have been able to meet our joint objective to focus on innovative advancements that will accelerate clinical research through enhanced data quality and improvement in the way that patients all over the world can access clinical trials.”
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 421 FEI Buys TILL Photonics
FEI a provider of imaging and analysis systems for research and industry has acquired TILL Photonics of Munich, Germany. TILL provides high resolution, digital light microscopes and high speed imaging systems for live cell fluorescence microscopy.
“The Life Sciences market is a key growth opportunity for FEI,” noted Don Kania, President and CEO of FEI. “With this acquisition, FEI acquires additional key technology for correlative microscopy for cellular biology, which integrates high performance light and electron microscopy. Now we can accelerate the growth of our Life Sciences business, which is an important component of our company-wide plan to double our served available market in the next three years.”
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“The very open and flexible microscope platforms of TILL are an ideal starting point for correlative microscopy,” commented Frank Lison, President of TILL Photonics GmbH. “They will open up new market opportunities for our high-resolution technologies. The strength of FEI will help us to achieve our goals much faster.”
The purchase price for the acquisition is €14.5 million (approximately $20 million), plus an earn-out payable in two years based on attainment of specified milestones. TILL was reported to have revenues of approximately $8 million for calendar year 2011.
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 422
Exco InTouch Wins Outsourcing Award
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