Agilent Technologies Inc
. (
A">A
) will be supplying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) components for
LipoScience Inc.'s Vantera Clinical Analyzer by virtue of an
agreement that the two signed recently.
The clinical analyzer is the first fully automatic diagnostic
tool to be used exclusively in a clinical laboratory and cleared by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
LipoScience is a diagnostic company specializing in
cardiovascular, metabolic and other diseases. Banking on the NMR
technology, it has become a pioneer in the diagnostics segment.
This new technique measures the blood sample of patients and
informs the doctors and their patients about the risk of heart
disease.
In addition, NMR is used in industrial processes to monitor the
content and purity of the manufactured products. NMR-based testing
is very useful as it studies the sample without destroying it.
In May 2010, Agilent's acquisition of scientific-equipment maker
Varian, Inc. opened new avenues in the field of NMR, MRI and X-ray.
This acquisition helped Agilent to gain expertise in the field of
magnetic resonance.
LipoScience wants to explore opportunities in clinical
laboratories and academic institutions backed by Agilent's
expertise in NMR. The clearance from the FDA will prove to be a
vital factor for the commercialization of the analyzer.
However, Agilent may face stiff competition from other NMR
makers such as
Siemens AG
(
SI
),
General Electric Co.
(
GE
),
Philips
(
PHG
) and others. However, Agilent will be able to counter the
competition if it enters into more agreements in the future.
Agilent's revenue in the third quarter was flat sequentially and
up 1.9% year over year, short of management's expectations of a
2-3% sequential increase ($1.77 billion to $1.79 billion). The
Chemical Analysis segment generated 22.0% of third quarter revenue,
down 8.8% sequentially and 7.0% year over year. The sequential
decline was largely because of weakness in food testing, although
chemical/energy was also down significantly and the
forensics/environmental was flattish. All three markets fared
similarly when compared with the year-ago quarter. The newly-added
Diagnostics and Genomics segment accounted for 6% of revenue in the
quarter.
Currently, Agilent Technologies Inc. has a Zacks #3 Rank,
implying a short-term 'Hold' rating.
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