Particles

06/01/2008

Ricor acquires InnerSense to expand semiconductor business

Ricor Cryogenic & Vacuum Systems announces the acquisition of InnerSense Ltd. Ricor thus expands its activities from cryogenic equipment and purging solutions to diagnostic systems. InnerSense has developed the “Smart Wafer” technology that provides engineers the means to record the forces acting on a wafer as it is handled by wafer fabrication equipment. This approach provides a statistical monitoring method for abnormal mechanical events in IC manufacturing and can be used as a cornerstone of an intelligent maintenance program by routinely measuring equipment wear in a non-invasive approach. The companies are now combining forces to offer the technology to the global semiconductor and related markets.

VWR reels in lab supply distributor

VWR International, LLC has acquired Jencons (Scientific) Limited, a UK scientific laboratory supply distributor. Jencons is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of laboratory equipment and consumables, with 110 employees. Based in the UK, the company also has operations in Ireland, Kenya, and North America. The company has annual revenues of approximately $46 million. VWR expects Jencons’ product line will help complement its own line of chemical, consumable, and life science products and that it’s emphasis on instrumentation and equipment will enhance VWR’s product and service offerings to its customers in the UK and Ireland.

PURE Bioscience partners with Rockline Industries

PURE Bioscience has entered into a partnership with privately held Rockline Industries, Inc. for North American distribution of PURE’s ready-to-use “Powered by SDC” disinfectant product and for the development of wipes, disinfectant, sanitizer, and preservative products containing PURE’s patented antimicrobial silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC). Under the agreement, Rockline Industries will market bottled, ready-to-use “Powered by SDC” disinfectant to retailers under those stores’ private label brands. PURE has granted Rockline the exclusive right to develop and commercialize wet wipes containing SDC for similar markets. Rockline must meet performance criteria and milestones to maintain exclusivity and contract rights.

DuPont to acquire Cardinal’s industrial apparel business

DuPont announces its intent to purchase the industrial apparel line of Cardinal Health’s Scientific and Production Products business, which manufactures and markets a variety of products used in cleanrooms and other controlled environments. The agreement includes the transfer of the existing inventory and intellectual property related to industrial garments including the Micro-Clean® brand. Cardinal Health will retain its hospital apparel product line along with its industrial gloves offering. The acquisition is part of the DuPont safety and protection strategy to expand the company’s presence in consumables in the controlled environment market space.

FDA clears Thermo Fisher’s MRSA test medium

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for SpectraTM MRSA, a test designed to screen for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). With the highest positive predictive value commercially available for MRSA screening, Spectra provides accurate results within 24 hours and is easily adopted in any health care facility to enable continuous testing of patients, according to the company. The test medium is easy to read, with MRSA appearing as distinctive dark blue colonies. Its use can help to simplify MRSA screening programs, allowing patient testing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Honduran ministers meet on food safety

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working jointly with its counterparts in the Honduran government and the Honduran grower and packer Agropecuaria Montel??bano to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella Litchfield illness in the United States related to cantaloupes. FDA has dispatched a team of scientific experts to inspect Agropecuaria Montel??bano and its processing and packing procedures. HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also providing technical and epidemiological expertise to assist HHS/FDA in this mission.

Matter that tainted heparin identified

FDA states that the chemical that tainted the recently recalled heparin products was a “souped-up” version of a compound commonly used to treat arthritic joints. The chemical–over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate–is not approved for use in prescription drugs sold in the United States, and it does not normally figure in the production of heparin. The American heparin manufacturers targeted suppliers from China as responsible for the contamination. Investigators are trying to determine whether the substance caused the more than 700 reports of serious side effects in heparin users and whether it was introduced deliberately into heparin products.

FDA orders emergency permit for pet food maker

FDA has issued an order requiring Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co., Inc., Wheeling, IL, to obtain an emergency permit from FDA before its canned pet food products enter interstate commerce. A recent inspection revealed significant deviations from prescribed documentation of processes, equipment, and recordkeeping in the production of the company’s thermally processed low acid canned food (LACF) products. These problems could result in under-processed pet foods, which can allow the survival and growth of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that causes botulism in some animals as well as in humans.