Life Technologies: Invitrogen
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ife Technologies declares that it is Asia, in November 2010. Devashish Ohri, a company dedicated to improving who joined the company from one of its the human condition, and it would major private sector customers Eli Lilly, was be hard to argue that this is not the appointed in April 2010 to lead the regional case. In less than 40 years since business, based in Bangalore—previously, RNA and DNA sequencing became possible he says, Invitrogen operated as a separate through the work of Frederick Sanger and entity in India, while Applied Biosystems Walter Gilbert, these techniques have did its business through a dealer. become fundamental tools for advancing The strategy in India and across Asia medical diagnostics, organ transplantation, will be to focus on creating a one-stop-shop agricultural and environmental research, for biotechnology customers whether in and forensics. government laboratories, pharmaceuticals Invitrogen, founded at Carlsbad, or clinical research organisations, says California, in 1987, rapidly became the Ohri. “Our competitors can typically leading global supplier of provide either instruments the high grade reagents, or certain consumables, media and consumables but we have the capability that support this activity. of supplying from under In 2008 it acquired Applied one roof a wider spectrum Biosystems, the company of instruments, nearly Invitrogen founded in that provided most of 65,000 consumables, Carlsbad, California the equipment used in and software relevant to the Human Genome biotechnology research Project. In doing so, it and bioinformatics.” added to its portfolio a global supplier of For the moment, India will remain the machines and materials used by academic main focus for Life Technologies, where and pharmaceutical industry research it has increased its number of offices from laboratories. Today, the combined one to five and its staff level to 200— company—renamed Life Technologies— though Ohri expects this to go up to 300 has an annual turnover of more than $3.3 by the end of this year. “We increased our billion, and demonstrates convincingly that distribution capability fivefold; we also improving the human condition also makes support markets in neighbouring South Asian countries including Pakistan, Sri for a sound business proposition. The last two years have been a period Lanka and Bangladesh. Biotech activity of integration between the two companies has started growing as these economies under the Life Technologies brand, a stabilise.” process that was completed with the The largest customer sector for Life establishment of Life Technologies, South Technologies, South Asia consists of
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