Durham Scientific Crystals (DSC), a partner company of Amphion Innovations, has raised £3.5m in Series H financing. The Durham University spin-out uses its semi-conducting materials for digital detectors in X-ray imaging, which it claims are both better and more cost effective than other semi-conductors currently used in detectors.
The materials developed at DSC are based on cadmium telluride, which is thought to be too expensive and too difficult to produce to use in large scale commercial applications. However, DSC claims to have developed a production method to produce these crystals from a vapour phase, rather than the conventional liquid based techniques, enabling the crystals to be produced cheaper. The firm is currently developing detectors and its novel imaging system platform based on its fundamental competence of producing high grade cadmium telluride material.
Meanwhile, Celsis International, a life sciences products and laboratory services company, has announced its first interim management statement for the quarter ending June 2006. The company claims the results are "very encouraging" across all its divisions, including the analytical services division and the rapid detection division. In the latter case, Celsis is hoping to begin customer testing of its new nucleic acid-based testing systems by the end of the year.
The company also said the integration of the In Vitro Technologies product and services division is proceeding according to plan.
Biotage, which supplies tools and technology to the life sciences sector, has announced results for the first half of the year. Excluding the Chem Dev product area which is being closed down, the firm said sales increased by 8% in both quarters. However, overall sales were stagnant at around SEK250m (€26.6m), although a drop in operating expenses helped the company turn a SEK13.1m pre-tax loss between January and June 2006 to a pre-tax profit of SEK19 m in the same period this year.
During the first six months, Biotage also signed an agreement with one of China's leading contract research companies, Shanghai Chempartner, concerning the delivery of instruments. The order was worth approximately SEK10m, making it Biotage's single largest order from China to date. The firm also introduced a new market segment, called Molecular Imaging.
The chief technology officer at materials characterization company Malvern Instruments, Dr E. Neil Lewis, has been given an honorary doctorate of science by his old university in Wales. Although he now lives in the US, Lewis went to the University of Glamorgan more than 20 years ago.
He specialised in molecular spectroscopy and during his career, has been involved in developing novel methods for chemical imaging of biological, medical and pharmaceutical materials, including groundbreaking work in the development of spectroscopic imaging microscopy. This utilised ideas from remote sensing, and also detector technology originally developed for military purposes by the US Government for night vision and missile guidance.
He arrived at Malvern through its acquisition of the company he founded, Spectral Dimensions, in 1998.
