A Medical Device Daily

Labcyte (Sunnyvale, California), the company that developed and commercialized the acoustic transfer of liquids reported that the Japanese patent office has granted patent 4309131 that covers the design of an acoustic-based system that can sort cells based upon acoustic or other properties and then eject them specifically from a mixed population.

"This patent extends our intellectual property and expands our geographical positioning," said Rich Ellson, CTO of Labcyte. "This, our second Japanese patent, is part of our expansion throughout the Pacific Rim and it increases our portfolio to 48 patents across Japan, Europe and the U.S."

"Until this patent, cells have been differentiated by optical methods," said Ellson. "This patent doubles the detection methods available. Coupled with the acoustic detection of cells is the specific selection and transfer of cells acoustically. Cell transfer via acoustic methods is gentle and eliminates the effects of shear stress seen when cells are pushed through a narrow tube, as is done with pipette tips."

"We expect that our technology as described in this patent will advance the science of cell sorting. It also continues to solidify Labcyte as an innovator in the arena of acoustic sciences," said Ellson. "Our technology significantly improves the results of high-throughput screening in drug discovery as well as genomic research, including applications in PCR-based gene expression, RNAi studies and SNP analyses. Our platform technology is also being applied in other fields such as array formation, the microencapsulation of compounds, mono-dispersed particle production, proteomics research, the transfer of ultra-viscous materials, cell-based biology and imaging mass spectrometry."

ASNA enters agreements in Israel

Applied Seals North America (ASNA; Newark, California), an international supplier of durable elastomeric sealing products used in manufacturing semiconductors, solar cells and pharmaceutical products, has signed Baruch & Co. Technologies & Supplies (BTS; Herzliya, Israel) to provide distribution, local engineering support, and some final testing of Applied Seals' products for customers throughout Israel's high-technology industries.

BTS has a dozen customer service professionals in Israel. The company maintains local product inventories in several locations, enabling fast delivery and service calls.

BTS is a member of the Hirshberg Brothers Group, one of Israel's largest suppliers of raw and process materials, process equipment, and medical and scientific instruments. In addition to having its own technical staff, BTS has access to the group's technologists who contribute their broad expertise in process technologies, quality assurance and logistics.

"Leveraging its more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, BTS has already begun working to educate the region's microelectronics companies about sealing products' wide range of compositions, performance specifications and product lifetimes," said Dalia Vernikovsky, president/GM of ASNA. "Through our partnership, we also are working together to address the needs of customers in the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, ink jet, and solar markets."

Companies form joint venture in China

Fenwal (Lake Zurich, Illinois) and Golden Meditech (Hong Kong) have agreed to form a joint venture in China to focus on blood collection and transfusion products for the Chinese medical market.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2010, subject to the signing of a definitive agreement and other customary company and regulatory conditions.

Medical professionals in China are expected to benefit from the combination of Fenwal's technological leadership in blood collection, separation, preservation and transfusion, and Golden Meditech's expertise in China's blood-related medical device and blood-banking fields. Fenwal will own 51% of the j-v and Golden Meditech will own 49%.

The j-v will operate from Beijing and serve customers throughout China. Initially, it will focus on sales and distribution of a range of Fenwal and Golden Meditech products, including Fenwal's Amicus system, a cell-separation system used to collect platelets; Golden Meditech's 3000H Plasma Exchange system, which is designed to remove toxins from patients' blood; and related supplies used to collect, process, preserve and transfuse blood and blood components.