- Investor Relations
- Corporate Governance
- Financial Report 2013
- Chief Financial Officer’s Report
- Five-year consolidated data
- Consolidated financial statements
- Notes to the consolidated financial statements
- 1 Reporting entity
- 2 Summary of significant accounting policies
- 3 Scope of consolidation
- 4 Segment information
- 5 Operating expenses by nature
- 6 Research and development
- 7 Other operating income
- 8 Financial result
- 9 Earnings per share
- 10 Employee benefits
- 11 Income taxes
- 12 Cash and cash equivalents
- 13 Current loans and derivatives
- 14 Trade accounts receivable
- 15 Inventories
- 16 Non-current financial assets
- 17 Property, plant and equipment
- 18 Intangible assets
- 19 Bank liabilities and derivatives
- 20 Deferred revenue
- 21 Provisions
- 22 Shareholders’ equity
- 23 Foreign exchange rates
- 24 Financial risk management (IFRS 7)
- 25 Fair value measurement and disclosures
- 26 Rental and lease commitments
- 27 Contingent liabilities and encumbrance of assets
- 28 Related parties
- 29 Subsequent events
- 30 Group risk management (disclosure according to Swiss law)
- Auditors
- Balance sheet of Tecan Group Ltd. at December 31
- Income statement of Tecan Group Ltd.
- Notes to the financial statements of Tecan Group Ltd.
- 1 Reporting basis
- 2 Investments in subsidiaries
- 3 Treasury shares
- 4 Provision for general business risks
- 5 Shareholders’ equity
- 6 Guarantees in favor of third parties
- 7 Pledged assets
- 8 Fire insurance value of property, plant and equipment
- 9 Disclosures concerning the conduction of a risk assessment
- 10 Compensation and loans granted to members of the Board of Directors and Management Board
- 11 Share and option ownership of the Board of Directors and Management Board
- Appropriation of available earnings
- Auditors
- The Tecan Share
- Tecan locations
We want you to have many more happy years
We expect doctors to give reliable diagnoses quickly. When
it comes to serious illnesses in particular, all hope rests on the
physicians’ ability to find an effective course of treatment in as
short a time as possible. Cancer is one of the most frequent and
fear-inducing illnesses, but thanks to new diagnostic and therapeutic
options, the disease is no longer as terrifying as it once
was. Some types of cancer have become readily treatable, while
for others, suffering can be eased and patients can lead a largely
symptom-free, normal life. The earlier that physicians identify
the cancer, the better the chances of recovery.
The aging population means that the incidence of cancer is
rising constantly. Highly productive, automated laboratories are
vital in order to manage the necessary diagnoses and spare
patients onerous waiting times.
Dako Omnis gives patients peace of mind within a day
The requirements of automated analytical procedures vary according to the type of disease and the method of diagnosis. Tecan is strategically investing in the development of fully automated solutions for a variety of applications. The company does not always work alone – among its ambitious, highly innovative projects to combat cancer is the development cooperation between Dako and Tecan, which was successfully completed in 2013. Dako Omnis, a new platform for automated advanced staining for tissue-based cancer diagnostics, was launched onto the market in the year under review.
Dako Omnis automates both of the established
processes for the diagnosis of abnormal cells: immunohistochemistry
(IHC) and in-situ hybridization
(ISH). These methods are used to add antibodies
to stain the cell structures of the tissue
samples that are key to diagnosis. As a result, even
specific genes or genetic mutations in cells can be
detected. Thanks to Dako Omnis, physicians can
now obtain reliable results for IHC tests from labs
in only two-and-a-half hours and data from ISH
tests in under four hours. This allows pathologists
to detect pathological changes faster and more
effectively and means that oncologists can
prescribe a targeted therapy program more quickly,
reducing the anxiety-inducing period of uncertainty
for patients.
Innovative strength through partnership
In 2010, Dako was looking for a partner to help develop the new
generation of an autostainer platform. Dako, an Agilent Technologies
company and leading provider of cancer diagnostics,
supplies a broad portfolio of antibodies, reagents, software
solutions and instruments for pathology laboratories. Dako is a
pioneer in the field of tissue-based cancer diagnostics and has
enjoyed an excellent reputation for decades. Tecan’s extensive
application expertise and experience with end customers’ workflows
in the IHC and ISH segment made the company the ideal
development partner for Dako Omnis. A further decisive factor
was Tecan’s experience in system integration.
Following some initial preparatory work, Dako and
Tecan concluded a definitive OEM development
agreement in May 2011. Only two years after the
agreement was signed, the development of Dako
Omnis was successfully completed and the compact
system has been in use in pathology laboratories
since September 2013.
Dako Omnis – a new standard for automated advanced staining
Dako Omnis offers full automation and fulfils the requirements of large diagnostic laboratories, hospitals and universities. It offers a high throughput, processes the samples within a few hours and makes it possible to thoroughly analyze individual patient cases within a day.Dako Omnis offers continuous loading with individual samples or batch loading, as well as the option of leaving the system to run overnight. It therefore sets new standards for what customers can expect from an automated platform with regard to flexibility, capacity, efficiency and traceability of samples. The platform offers state-of-the-art software that is intuitive to operate and allows an improved level of monitoring in the laboratory. Key processes such as slide processing and instrument maintenance can now be traced back to individual employees, which significantly improves quality control.
Main Features of Dako Omnis
No standby time while new reagents and slides are loaded
Minimal hands-on time
Unequaled throughput per working day
Easy to operate thanks to intuitive software
Full IHC and ISH patient case management within a day
Improved quality controls and consistent quality ensured
Cooperation protocol
January 2010: | Feasibility study |
October 2010: | Hardware concept |
May 2011: | Definitive development agreement signed |
June 2011: | Testing of prototype I |
April 2012: | Testing of prototype II |
January 2013: | Validation of the pilot series instruments |
July 2013: | CE IVD registration |
September 2013: | Market launch in Europe and US |
Reliable results for safe foodstuffs
Access to uncontaminated foodstuffs is one of the most important
things in life. Living a healthy life depends in part on the
safety and reliability of quality controls, from soil samples to
animal feeds to controls on every type of foodstuff.
In countries with a very dense network of quality controls in particular, people have a great deal of faith in the safety of foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products. This expectation drives all those involved in the production chain to perform each step in the manufacturing process with the greatest care. There is also the associated monitoring of various samples and their continuous documentation. Device manufacturers respond to the great need for reliable, fast sample testing with ever more efficient and complex, yet easy to operate semi- and fully automated systems.
In countries with a very dense network of quality controls in particular, people have a great deal of faith in the safety of foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products. This expectation drives all those involved in the production chain to perform each step in the manufacturing process with the greatest care. There is also the associated monitoring of various samples and their continuous documentation. Device manufacturers respond to the great need for reliable, fast sample testing with ever more efficient and complex, yet easy to operate semi- and fully automated systems.
Efficient device development with Tecan OEM components
Tecan supplies OEM components to device manufacturers from its existing portfolio. OEM partner projects allow automation solutions to be developed far quicker and at a much lower cost than when device manufacturers have to rely entirely on their own R&D efforts.Using proven OEM components such as precision pumps and robotic modules, Tecan facilitates integration into various external environments. A good example of this is Cavro® Omni, a modular, highly expandable robotics module. LCTech, a German manufacturer of products and methods for the preparation and analysis of foodstuffs, animal feeds and environmental samples, has integrated Cavro Omni as the basis of a new sample preparation system.
Efficient automation of routine tasks
LCTech customers were asking for an automation solution for everyday routine laboratory tasks. The device needed to be able to link together work steps that had until that point been performed individually and manually. The new robotic system FREESTYLE now enables classic laboratory tasks to be processed automatically. For example, complex samples can be prepared for quality control testing and contamination screening. The basis platform can be combined seamlessly with different processing devices and thus allows different sample preparation technologies to be used for the subsequent analysis - depending on the customer’s preference for a specific technology or regulations.The new, highly versatile system allows numerous sample preparation work steps in the areas of food and feed testing and environmental analysis to be automated, thus making a contribution to maintaining quality of life.
3D cell cultures to increase the conclusiveness of pharmaceutical research
Cell biologists are convinced that using automated test procedures
to support research into new 3D cell cultures will provide
a positive impetus for the discovery of new active substances.
Work with 2D cell cultures is currently approaching its limits,
but until now it has not been possible to use 3D cell cultures
extensively for automated test series. Laboratories still largely
cultivate and process 3D cell strains manually. Joint efforts by
Tecan and leading companies in the field of cell biology have
now paved the way for the widespread use of 3D cell cultures
in fully automated systems.
In the past, the limited nature of 2D cell cultures repeatedly led to promising research projects failing to produce the anticipated results and active pharmaceutical substances ultimately having to be eliminated following expensive test procedures. There is therefore an urgent need for more conclusive, alternative methods for the early phases of testing.
In the past, the limited nature of 2D cell cultures repeatedly led to promising research projects failing to produce the anticipated results and active pharmaceutical substances ultimately having to be eliminated following expensive test procedures. There is therefore an urgent need for more conclusive, alternative methods for the early phases of testing.
Initial test procedures on 3D cell cultures reveal greater biological
relevance when searching for active substances. For example,
when developing new cancer medications, it is easier to
examine cell growth and cancerous tumors in an environment
that more closely mimics the natural tissue. Nonetheless, the
possibilities to date were severely limited by the low throughput.
New solutions involving cultivating and conducting tests
on cell cultures in automated processes are required to make
the work on 3D cell structures economically justifiable.
In light of this situation, Tecan has positioned itself in a leading role in this market of the future. To this end, Tecan has entered into cooperation agreements with leading technology companies in the area of cell biology, including InSphero, TAP Biosystems and Reinnervate. The objective is to institute automated test procedures with simplified work steps in the laboratory as quickly as possible.
In light of this situation, Tecan has positioned itself in a leading role in this market of the future. To this end, Tecan has entered into cooperation agreements with leading technology companies in the area of cell biology, including InSphero, TAP Biosystems and Reinnervate. The objective is to institute automated test procedures with simplified work steps in the laboratory as quickly as possible.
Cooperations for automated 3D cell cultures
Tecan brings expertise in automation and extensive application knowledge into its cooperations, with the partner companies contributing a variety of 3D cell culturing methods and technologies. Newly developed systems allow cell cultures to be cultivated in a standard plate format, making them candidates for automation. This makes the hunt for new active substances considerably more efficient.
The process steps are automated on a Tecan Freedom
EVO® liquid handling platform and the
results read on a Tecan Reader, e.g. the Infinite®
M200 PRO. This allows increased throughput of
3D cell cultures with reproducible results in an
economical manner, which means that highly
qualified employees are not forced to spend their
time on repetitive work.