Industry Overview

Contracts, Mergers, and Announcements

Cornerstone BioPharma, Inc. (Cary, NC, www.cornerstonebiopharma.com) and Lupin Ltd. (Mumbai, India, www.lupinworld.com) signed a development and licensing agreement in which both companies will collaborate in the clinical development of a novel drug delivery system for an anti-infective product. In the agreement, Cornerstone has the rights to sell and market the prescription drug in the United States, upon FDA approval. 3M (St. Paul, MN, www.3m.com) and CUNO, Inc. (Meriden, CT, www.cuno.com) have entered into a definitive agreement for 3M’s acquisition of CUNO in an all-cash merger for $72 dollars per share, valuing the transaction at approximately $1.35 billion, including the assumption of $60 million of existing net debt. Cognex Corporation (Natick, MA, www.cognex.com) has acquired DVT Corporation (Duluth, GA). Under the terms of the acquisition, Cognex purchased all of the outstanding shares of DVT for approximately $115 million. Cognex plans to maintain operations at DVT's current facility in Georgia and to continue selling and supporting DVT's vision products through DVT's existing third-party distribution channel. Evotec Technologies GmbH (Hamburg, Germany, www.evotec-technologies.com) has purchased the uHTS business from the Carl Zeiss Group (www.zeiss.com). As part of the transaction, Evotec received the exclusive rights to build and commercialize Zeiss's uHTS product portfolio. Evotec assumed the service responsibility for the installed base of these Zeiss instruments, including ten uHTS systems that are in operation at various pharmaceutical companies. SPX Corporation (Charlotte, NC, www.spx.com) has completed the sale of its Kendro laboratory and life sciences products business to Thermo Electron Corporation for $833.5 million in cash. GlaxoSmithKline (London and Philadelphia, www.gsk.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Corixa Corporation (Seattle, WA, www.corixa.com) for approximately $300 million. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by Corixa’s Board of Directors, is subject to approval of its shareholders, regulatory clearance, and other conditions. As a result of the agreement, GSK will acquire all scientific and business programs, activities, assets, and all related rights from Corixa. In addition, GSK will acquire Corixa’s manufacturing facility in Hamilton, MT, which produces "Monophosphoryl Lipid A¨ (MPL), a novel adjuvant contained in many vaccines in GSK’s pipeline. West Pharmaceutical Services (Lionville, PA, www.westpharma.com) and The Tech Group (Scottsdale, AZ, www.techgroup.com) have signed a definitive agreement for West to acquire the business assets of The Tech Group for $140 million. West will not acquire The Tech Group's ownership interest in Tech Group Asia. The Tech Group manufactures plastic components and assemblies for the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer products, and personal-care markets. The transaction remains subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino act but is expected to close in May 2005. Chr. Hansen Holding (Hoersholm, Denmark, www.chr-hansen.com) has reached a definitive agreement to sell its food ingredients business operating to PAI Partners (Paris, France, www.paimanagement.com). As a result of the transaction, PAI Partners will acquire all of the activities related to food ingredients owned by Chr. Hansen Holding, including the buildings located at the headquarters in Hørsholm, Denmark, currently owned by Chr. Hansen Holding and used by Chr. Hansen. Novo Nordisk's (www.novonordisk.com) facility in Hillerød, Denmark was named the first Facility of the Year Award winner at INTERPHEX 2005. The 14,000-m∑ building, where the company's NovoSeven hemophilia drug is made, was designed and constructed in independent sections. An international judging panel of experts from the pharmaceutical design, construction, and manufacturing sectors reviewed all 28 entries from 12 countries and selected the Novo Nordisk site from among the four other finalists, including sites owned by Alkermes, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Apotex, Inc. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Kowa Company, Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan; and Lundbeck, Ltd. of the United Kingdom. Ionics Instruments (Boulder, CO, www.ionicsinstruments.com) recently acquired by General Electric Company, has been renamed GE Analytical Instruments. GE completed the Ionics acquisition earlier this year. As part of the Water and Process Technologies business within GE Infrastructure, GE Analytical Instruments will continue to develop products and services to meet analytical measurement needs of its customers and will provide a new area of growth for GE. Morphotek, Inc. (Exton, PA, www.morphotek.com) has entered into a multiyear research collaboration agreement with Amgen Inc. (Thousand Oaks, CA, www.amgen.com) to apply Morphotek's proprietary "MORPHODOMA" technology to Amgen's proprietary cell lines to generate high-titer antibody-producing cell lines for scaleable manufacturing. (continued to People)