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LAFAYETTE, Colo. – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced that the Finnzymes line of advanced PCR and qPCR products is now available in the U.S. through its Fisher Scientific channel, providing customers with greater access to these products and ordering convenience.

Finnzymes was recently acquired by Thermo Fisher, and this line of products is now part of the company’s Thermo Scientific PCR portfolio. Finnzymes product families now available through Fisher Scientific-U.S. include: 

• Phusion® High-Fidelity and new Hot Start II Polymerase reagents

• Phire® Hot-Start and Hot-Start II PCR reagents

• Direct PCR kits for plant, blood, tissue and FFPE sections

• DyNAzyme™ DNA Polymerases

• DyNAmo™ qPCR reagents

These products will also become available through Fisher Scientific in Canada and the United Kingdom within the next few weeks and through additional distribution and direct channels in other parts of the world over time.

“We are pleased to make Finnzymes products more readily available to our customers,” said Michael Deines, global director of marketing for genomics at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “These leading PCR and qPCR tools offer greater speed and yield in amplification as well as higher fidelity and specificity, enhancing our customers’ efficiency and effectiveness in the laboratory. Fisher Scientific provides its customers with convenient ordering and an extensive network of field and support staff.”

Finnzymes products may be ordered 24-hours-a-day through Fisher Scientific-U.S. by calling 1- 800-766-7000, faxing 1-800-926-1166 or visiting www.fishersci.com.

In Canada and the United Kingdom, customers may contact their regional Fisher Scientific offices for availability and ordering information.

Thermo Scientific is part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science.

Finnzymes has signed an agreement to be acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science. "This transaction is a very positive step for both companies, combining the innovation in PCR/qPCR from Finnzymes with the greater resources and commercial reach of Thermo Fisher Scientific in all areas of research and diagnostics," says Pekka Mattila, CEO of Finnzymes. Read more.

Finnzymes Instruments Oy has entered into an agreement with Sage Science Inc. to design and manufacture advanced instrumentation for use in molecular biology laboratories. “We are looking to leverage Sage Science’s core competencies in order to develop a new line of programmable instruments that will be utilized in key processes upstream and downstream of PCR and qPCR applications,” stated Mike Mortillaro, Vice President of Operations at Finnzymes Instruments. “We hope that these products will complement our current line of high- performance thermal cyclers and soon-to-be-released instruments for real-time PCR.” The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Finnzymes Oy won honorary mention for their Piko thermal cycler in the Fennia prize competition. The Fennia Prize – Good design grows global is a competition for firms and companies rewarding the exemplary use and application of design in business – companies for which design is a central means of product development and brand construction.  The prize is awarded every second year.

Finnzymes Instruments enters into a joint venture with Bridge Biosciences Corporation to form a new company called BioInnovations Oy. In exchange for monetary considerations, Finnzymes Instruments becomes the majority shareholder in this new entity.  The deal transfers all physical assets, patents and expertise from the PCR plastics business of Bridge Biosciences to BioInnovations.  Pekka Mattila, CEO of Finnzymes Instruments commented on the joint venture: “This partnership will secure unique intellectual property related to the design and manufacture of vessels for high performance PCR.  It also will ensure that Finnzymes Instruments can offer a broad range of innovative consumables to the molecular diagnostics and life science research markets.”  Bruce Turner, current President of Bridge Biosciences, will take the helm of BioInnovations and says he “looks to offer consumable products with useful and novel features for researchers in the life science market.”  The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Finnzymes Instruments licenses key patents for the worldwide manufacture, sale and use of thermal cyclers from Applera Corporation. CEO, Pekka Mattila stated “It has always been Finnzymes' continuing strategy to license technologies and patents that will help develop a more complete product offering to the scientific community. In this case, we feel that offering both licensed reagents and PCR instruments will make it easier for our customers to purchase our integrated solution for high performance PCR."

Finnzymes Instruments unveils its first line of instrumentation specifically designed for high performance PCR.  The design of the Piko™ thermal cycler is based upon novel PCR vessels.  As stated by Mike Mortillaro, Vice President of Operations, “The concept was to develop a PCR system that is smaller, faster and better performing than existing platforms.  By licensing UTW™ (ultra-thin wall) technology from Bridge Bioscience Corp., and coupling that with our patent-pending Slidetiter™ format, we have been able to meet our goals.”  He further added, “We now will move quickly to offer a full line of instrumentation and ultra-thin walled Slidetiter vessels to address low, medium and high throughput needs.”

Finnzymes Oy becomes the major investor in Finnzymes Instruments Oy, a company founded by Mike Mortillaro, Ph.D. and David Cohen, each a former manager from MJ Research.  Pekka Mattila, CEO of both Finnzymes Oy and Finnzymes Instruments Oy stated, “It is our long-term objective to create a group of companies that will offer an integrated solution for high performance PCR, including reagents, instruments and consumables.  Finnzymes currently has a flagship product in the high performance PCR reagent market, namely Phusion™, which is gaining wide acceptance.  This joint venture is one of our first steps to firmly establish ourselves as a complete solution provider in the increasingly competitive market of PCR.”  Mike Mortillaro, Vice President of Operations, added, “When we look at the life science market, it seems to us that new product development of PCR instrumentation has languished in recent years.  We see many opportunities to bring innovation to this maturing market.”