Asia Heats Up

Takara Bio, the bioltechnology unit of Japanese beverage maker Takara Holdings on Friday annouced that it will purchase the Clontech unit of BD Biosciences for $60 million. Takara, which positions itself as leader in the Japanese life-sciences research market, will make the purchase through a wholly owned subsidiary that it will establish in the US. The $60 million deal consists mainly of Clontech Laboratories, the company said in a statement. Subject to regulatory clearance, the deal is expected to close in August. Takara Bio was the first manufacturer to introduce restriction enzymes to the Japanese market in 1979.

Clontech, which Becton Dickinson acquired for $201 million in 1999, has provided its parent company with some $260 million in revenues since then, although at a declining rate of return. Clontech was founded in 1984 in Palo Alto, Calif., by former NIH molecular biologist Ken Fong and his wife.

Takara Bio is an active investor in US-based molecular biology companies including Nanosphere and Lynx.

BD has had Clontech on the sales block since last October, at least, and originally said that it expected to make a sale by March.

BD Biosciences Clontech provides research reagents and assay kits with applications for genomics, functional genomics, proteomics, and drug discovery. Major product brands include BD Atlas, BD Living Colors, BD Creator, BD Clontech, and BD Matchmaker.

The California International Institute of Nanotechnology and the government of China's Zhejiang province have signed an agreement to create a research institute in the State University Science Park of Zhejiang University, according to a news release by the Zhejiang University. The institute will be seeded with some $30 million. Zhejiang University will create eight research centers in areas including systematic biology, molecular imaging, biological detection, and nano-scale preparation and expression, in combination with CNSI and the Universities of California, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

The Indian state of Orissa has established a biotech development fund of $1.4 million for tevelopment of biotech parks and projects, according to a news report in the publication The Statesman of India. The announcement came at a recent investor conference organized by the state. Orissa is in eastern India.