Monday, February 7, 2011

A 19.2V Drill with every sorter purchase?

As you've probably heard, Beckman Coulter put itself up for sale last year, and now it looks like they will be purchased by Washington based Danaher Corporation. Danaher is a conglomerate that owns the Craftsman hand tool brand as well as businesses in electronic testing equipment, dental equipment, and monitoring products. They also own the microscopy company Leica. What does this mean for the flow cytometry world? Probably not much, but the extra capital available from Danaher could only help R&D for flow cytometry, right? Time will tell. It seems like the MoFlo just can't find a stable home. Ever since Cytomation was acquired by Dako, the MoFlo has been passed around like a plate of crudités at a 6 year old's birthday party. My advice to Danaher and those making the transition from Beckman Coulter - forget everything you think you know about flow cytometry, come talk to the folks in trenches, and design a new instrument that's more than a "me-too" product. Good luck! Here's Beckman-Coulter's statement. And here's what Danaher has to say.