Bioscience Company Lab901 acquired by Agilent Technologies
Lab 901, the bio-science company based at Loanhead, near Edinburgh, has been acquired by Agilent Technologies Inc, the world’s premier measurement company. Lab901 was founded in 2001 by former Motorola employees in partnership with individuals from Edinburgh University’s SCGTI to develop and manufacture instrumented measurement systems for the life sciences sector and now employs 45 people. Lab901’s main product, the ScreenTape System, which was launched in 2007 and sells in over 20 countries, consists of a consumable tape (ScreenTape), a bench-top measuring instrument (TapeStation) and associated software packages. The credit card sized ScreenTape, produced by a novel combination of thermoplastics extrusion, high pressure forming, conductive printing and lamination, contains channels with 16 microgels, which can be used to analyse up to 16 DNA, RNA and protein samples in less than one minute, without the chores of gel preparation and chip priming associated with normal electrophoresis analysis.
David Barlow, Lab901’s Product Development Engineer with responsibility for the novel plastics fabrication process, believes that "the timing of the acquisition couldn’t have been better, as Lab901 are ready to expand production and develop the next generation of exciting products, and Agilent have the global marketing and expertise to enable us to realise these ambitions."
David, an SPRA Council member and SPRA Social Convener, is a graduate of the Polymer Engineering Programme at Edinburgh Napier University, which is also a source for other Lab 901 employees.
Report by Charlei Geddes, SPRA Honorary Secretary May 2011
