Biocartis SA, a biotech company active in the field of personalized medicine and focused on fast, multiplexed and fully integrated molecular diagnostics based on its proprietary micro-technology and sample preparation platforms, today announced the successful closing of a Series B equity financing round. The Company raised EUR 30 million (~ USD 41.3 million) from its current shareholder base of leading life science investors and two new strategic investors from the pharmaceutical/diagnostic industry.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) today announced the launch of its VeraCode ADME Core Panel designed to help researchers study genetic predispositions for differential drug response and adverse events. The VeraCode ADME Core Panel offers the most complete representation of the key biomarkers associated with drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) as standardized by pharmaceutical industry experts in the PharmADME Core List. Leveraging Illumina’s innovative VeraCode technology, researchers using the product can analyze key ADME content in as little as one day, allowing studies to proceed faster and more efficiently than ever before.

AdvanDx today announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a fast, 90 minutes protocol for its C. albicans PNA FISH® and C. albicans/C. glabrata PNA FISH® tests. The faster protocol reduces the PNA FISH turn-around time from the original 2.5 hours to 90 minutes by reducing PNA probe hybridization from 90 minutes to 30 minutes. Clinical validation studies performed at hospitals in the United States demonstrated 100% agreement between the 90 minutes protocol, the original PNA FISH protocol and conventional identification methods, ensuring the faster protocol maintains the very high sensitivity and specificity required versus slower, conventional methods.

Accelrys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACCL) and Symyx Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMX) today announced that they have signed a merger agreement that will establish a new leader in scientific informatics software.

Asuragen, Inc., a leader in molecular diagnostic development, announced today the appointment of Lyle Arnold, Ph.D., to its board of directors.

Dr. Arnold is a veteran biotechnology entrepreneur and a leading developer of novel technologies for the molecular diagnostic industry.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 25, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Luminex Corporation (Nasdaq: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, presented new strategic initiatives at its Annual Investor Day, which was held today at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York, NY. The event featured presentations from scientists and company executives and included a review of Luminex’s innovative product pipeline, the announcement of the company’s acquisition of Australian-based BSD Robotics, the unveiling of an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement with Advanced Liquid Logic, and details regarding Luminex’s biothreat initiative.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced that its entire portfolio of DNA microarrays is now manufactured under ISO 13485 certification, an internationally recognized standard for quality management systems (QMS).

Agendia, a world leader in molecular cancer diagnostics, today announced that its breast cancer product offering, consisting of breast cancer recurrence test MammaPrint®, and TargetPrint™, has been expanded with BluePrint ™ to report important additional information on tumor subtypes.

Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, builds on its position as the leading provider of innovative solutions for research and industrial laboratories by showcasing a complete portfolio of new analytical instruments, laboratory equipment, software, consumables and reagents at Analytica 2010, being held from March 23 - 26 in Munich, Germany.

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) and The Jackson Laboratory today announced the full commercial launch of the Affymetrix(R) Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array. This is the first high-density genotyping array that enables researchers to study the complexity of the mouse genome and the diversity among mouse strains.

Health Discovery Corporation (OTCBB: HDVY) (HDC) and Smart Personalized Medicine, LLC (SPM) announced today that they have entered into development and related licensing agreements with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. Under the agreements, Quest Diagnostics will develop new laboratory tests for aiding in the selection of breast cancer therapies.

The Biomarkers Consortium, a unique public-private partnership that includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and major pharmaceutical companies, led by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), today announced the launch of a highly anticipated clinical trial to help screen promising new drugs being developed for women with high risk, fast-growing breast cancers—women for whom an improvement over standard treatment could dramatically change the odds of survival.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) today unveiled its new HumanOmniExpress+ Custom BeadChip (OmniExpress+), an enhancement to the recently announced OmniExpress BeadChip that allows for the addition of up to 200,000 custom variants for a total of >900k variants per sample. OmniExpress+ leverages the proven iSelect custom genotyping infrastructure to provide researchers with unlimited flexibility in adding custom content for disease or pathway-specific markers, rare variants from the 1,000 Genomes Project, or panels for fine-mapping onto the industry’s most optimal set of SNPs.

Sequenom, Inc. (Nasdaq: SQNM) today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $10.8 million, compared with $12.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.

GE Healthcare announces the launch of Sensor Chip CM7. Designed for use with GE Healthcare’s Biacore™ systems, Sensor Chip CM7 has the high immobilization capacity required to support fragment-based screening of small molecules.