Sigma Life Science, the innovative biological products and
services research wing of
Sigma-Aldrich Corporation
(
SIAL
), has announced the launch of Stemline pluripotent culture medium,
a human pluripotent stem cell culture medium which provides a
suitable environment for the long-term maintenance and growth of
healthy pluripotent stem cells.
Sigma-Aldrich stated that the Stemline pluripotent stem cell
culture medium is serum-free, consists of fully-defined components
and has 80% less basic fibroblast growth factor compared to the
leading pluripotent stem cell culture medium. This provides a
favorable environment for long-term maintenance of optimal growth
rates, viability and pluripotency.
The stem cell research community usually complains of the high
costs of media for pluripotent stem cells. However, Sigma-Aldrich's
Stemline pluripotent culture medium performs as good as the leading
medium for maintaining pluripotency and optimal growth rates and is
available at comparatively lower costs than the conventional media.
It is also found that cultured pluripotent stem cells show all the
established pluripotency markers and maintain proper karyotype and
the ability to distinguish into each of the three germ layers. The
novel Stemline media strengthens Sigma-Aldrich's position as one of
the largest global providers of cell culture media.
Sigma-Aldrich released its second-quarter 2012 results in July. The
company posted adjusted earnings of 97 cents per share for the
quarter, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but ahead of the
year-ago earnings of 93 cents per share. Profit, as reported,
marginally increased year over year to $115 million or 94 cents per
share.
Revenues rose 4% year over year to $664 million, aided by
acquisitions. The company saw growth across its Research Chemicals
and Fine Chemicals ("SAFC") divisions in the quarter.
Sigma-Aldrich expects organic growth to be low-to-mid single
digits in 2012. Macroeconomic uncertainties may hinder its Research
Chemicals business whereas growth in Bioscience and Hitech is
expected to drive SAFC sales in the remainder of the year. The
acquisitions of BioReliance and Research Organics are expected to
boost sales by 6%.
Sigma-Aldrich, a close peer of
Bayer AG
(
BAYRY
), currently maintains a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into a
short-term (1 to 3 months) Buy rating. We have a long-term (more
than 6 months) Neutral recommendation on the stock.
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