Peaks of Interest

Thar enters agreement with Norwegian University

Thar Technologies, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) announced that it has entered into an agreement to develop supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) applications with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (As, Norway, NULS).

Ilia Brondz, professor of Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Food Science at Norwegian University, uses the company's SFC Method Station.

"We are excited to work with such a strong university as the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and an open-minded professor in Dr. Brondz," said Todd Palcic, vice president of Thar's Instruments Division. "We hope the work that is done in Norway sheds a gleaming light on the SFC technology to others who have hesitated to pursue it."

SFC applications prevail in industries ranging from petrochemical to food to pharmaceutical. The group already is working on SFC with the latest detectors in an effort to surpass SFC-UV and SFC-MS, most commonly used in pharmaceutical applications.

SGE sponsors Genome Canada project at the University of Toronto

SGE Group (Austin, Texas) and its division ETP Electron Multipliers are pleased to announce their sponsorship of the Genome Canada project at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada).

SGE is sponsoring the development of a new generation of instrumentation in the form of a mass spectrometer-based flow cytometer, including associated methods and applications.

ETP Electron Multipliers has provided two FAST TOF detectors for use in the project.

Sigma-Aldrich buys Advanced Separation Technologies

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (St. Louis, Missouri) bought Advanced Separation Technologies, Inc. (Whippany, New Jersey) chiral chromatography business. Terms of the cash deal were not disclosed.

The chemical company said Advanced Separation has $2 million in annual revenues. Sigma-Aldrich said the purchase would not affect earnings in 2006 but will help it meet growth goals over the next several years.