Pall Corporation (PLL) has announced the acquisition of MicroReactor Technologies Inc. (MRT), a privately held U.S. biotechnology company. MicroReactor has developed a reliable, easy-to-use and cost-effective miniature bioreactor technology platform.
 
The acquisition of MicroReactor, which has patented its approach to high throughput miniature bioreactor equipment and disposables, expands Pall’s Total Fluid ManagementSM capabilities in the $1 billion biopharmaceuticals process monitoring and process development market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
Speed to market continues to be a critical driver in the biopharmaceuticals industry. High Throughput Process Development is a rapidly emerging approach that enables biotech drug development activities to be accomplished much faster and with less material. As a starting point for new biotech drug development, cell culture optimization can greatly benefit from this approach.
 
Founded in 2003 in Mountain View, California, MicroReactor quickly gained market recognition for its miniature bioreactor platform. The platform is able to improve cell culture process development through a fast and accurate assessment of bioreactor performance.
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company stands at $2.02 for fiscal year 2010. Earnings per share are expected to grow at 10% for the next 5 years. There are 8 analyst estimates available for fiscal 2010, of which one has been increased in the past 30 days. The stock has provided a positive surprise of 9.62% for the quarter ended July 2009 while for the quarter-end January 2009, negative surprise was to the extent of 13.64%. On an average, there has been a negative earnings surprise of 2% over the trailing four quarters. All the above factors along with gradually improving macro environment have helped the stock retain its Zacks #3 Rank. This implies a long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock, which means that it will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next six to twelve months.
 
Pall Corporation manufactures and markets filtration, purification and separation products and integrated systems solutions worldwide. The company’s Life Sciences segment offers technologies that facilitate the process of drug discovery, development and production used in laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, blood centers and hospitals at the point of patient care. The company’s Industrial segment offers enabling and process enhancing technologies for various industries such as aerospace, transportation, micro and consumer electronics, municipal and industrial water, fuels, chemicals, energy, and food and beverages.
Read the full analyst report on “PLL”
Read the full analyst report on “MRT”
Zacks Investment Research