In the company’s first quarter earnings pre-announcment earlier this week, representatives from Sequenom announced that it was now on pace to exceed its own expectations regarding MaterniT21. Sequenom’s original plans estimated that approximately 25,000 MaterniT21 tests would be billed by the end of 2012, but the latest figures have shown such a high growth in the test’s adoption rate that the company has chosen to revise projections. According to the company’s April 16th press release, “more than 12,700 total tests… were accessioned during the first quarter of 2012,” 4,900 of which were for MaterniT21. At the current rate, this means Sequenom is on pace to bill roughly 30,000 MaterniT21 tests by year’s end. Due to the good news, the company saw fit to adjust their 2012 goals for MaterniT21, increasing their year-end billing goals from 25,000 tests to 40,000 tests.

For more details on the pre-announcment first quarter figures for 2012, please visit Sequenom’s official website for the press release. The press release can be found here.

For the global instrument market, the report goes on to state that spectrometry represented the largest segment within this market, carrying 33% of the market share in 2011, while chromatography instruments made up the second largest share of the market at 22%.

To read more about this latest report from MarketResearch.com, please click here.

According to reports, Illumina’s board of directors rejected Roche’s bid to acquire the company, calling the move “blatantly opportunistic” and an unfair. Illumina’s board elaborated on this comment by saying that Roche’s offer effectively represented a devaluation of both the company and its future potential. In turn, Roche responded to the rejection with disappointment, citing their offer as fair and reasonable.

For now, Roche still plans to press ahead in its attempts to acquire Illumina; however, the next move for both parties following this communication breakdown is unknown. Tentatively, some analysts are speculating that Roche may potentially come back with a higher offer in the hopes of swaying Illumina to their side.

For more details on the ongoing saga between Illumina and Roche, we recommend this article from GEN news.

The new information comes courtesy of BIOCOM, the largest regional life science association in the world.  In their new report, the organization states that the San Diego life science industry has added nearly 6,000 new jobs since 2009.  In 2011, the total number of individuals employed within the San Diego life science industry reached 41,937.

BIOCOM projects that this number will climb to 44,707 by 2013.

In total, San Diego county has 1,705 companies in the life science sector.

To read the full report from BIOCOM, click here.

This year, 15 healthcare and biotech companies made the list, the highest ranking of which was CHG Healthcare Services at #9.  CHG  ranked #27 in the previous year, so this leap marks a major acheivement for the company and its employees.  CHG was also the only healthcare or biotech company to rank within the top 30 on this year’s list.

Below is the complete list of healthcare and biotech companies who made the list and where they ranked:

#9. CHG Healthcare Services

#36. Southern Ohio Medical Center

#39. St. Jude’s Christian Research Hospital

#42. Baptist Health South Florida

#43. Novo Nordisk

#49. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

#53. Methodist Hospital

#56. Scripps Health

#65. Atlantic Health

#68. Genentech

#71. Mayo Clinic

#80. Stryker

#87. The Everett Clinic

#88. OhioHealth

#96. Meridian Health

As any good branding and marketing enthusiast knows, the way an employee perceives his or her employer plays a massive role in the way a company’s brand operates both internally and externally. Those sentiments, positive or negative, speak a great deal about the internal culture of a brand.  Ultimately, they spill out externally and go on to influence the way the general population perceives a brand.  Based on the rankings above, it seems safe to say that these companies must be doing something right.

To see the complete list from CNN Money, click here.

Clinical data has shown that Veracyte’s test helps resolve inconclusive results on thyroid nodule fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples being tested for cancer with a high degree of accuracy, demonstrating potential to help tens of thousands of patients each year avoid surgery.

Thyroid cancer is the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, with an estimated 48,020 new cases expected in 2011, according to the American Cancer Society. Approximately 450,000 thyroid nodule FNAs – a minimally…”

To continue reading the full press release from Veracyte, please click here.

For full details on the conference, please visit the official Molecular Med Tri-Con site here.

When: February 19th – 23rd 2012

Where: Monscone North Convention Center, San Francisco, CA

Cost: There are two registration options for the conference – the all access package and the regular a-la-carte registration. In either case, prices will vary based on whether one attends as part of a commercial organization or as a academic / government / hospital-affiliated organization.  All access prices range from $1835 to $3215. A discount is offered to those who register early for the event.  To qualify for the discount, they must register by January 13th 2011.

RSVP: Registration link

Sponsor: Canada, Luminex, SomaLogic, Abbott, Complete Genomics, Qiagen, and many others.

According to Drug Patent Watch, 8 drug patents are set to expire this month.  They are:

1. VITRASERT, by Bausch And Lomb

2. LUNESTA (listed twice on the list, under different patent numbers), by Sunovion Pharms Inc

3. PREFEST, by Teva Womens

4. VIDEX, by Bristol Myers Squibb

5. OCTREOSCAN, by Mallinckrodt

6. TASMAR, by Valeant Pharm Intl

7. PROTOPIC, by Astellas

The original list can be found here.

Full details on the conference can be found on the PAGXX website.

When: January 14th – 18th 2012

Where: Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, CA

Cost: PAGXX offers three pricing categories – students, non-profits, and industries. Cost options vary according to category, pre-regsitration, and dates of attendance.  In order to take advantage of pre-registration discounts, parties must register by Wednesday, January 11th 2012.  The prices range anywhere from $390 to $990.  To see the full pricing table for the event, please click here.

RSVP: Registration link

Conference Sponsors: Syngenta, Monsanto, Pioneer, OpGen, Roche, Life Technologies, LemnaTec, and Advanced Analytical

By the terms of the deal, SK Capital Partners will pay approximately $234 million to acquire a 60% stake in the company.

To read more about this deal, please visit Health Imaging.