Caliper Life Sciences, a provider of products and services for drug discovery research, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Cambridge Research & Instrumentation (CRi) for $20m, including net debt.
CRi develops and markets optical imaging systems to advance biomedical research and molecular-based drug and diagnostic development.
CRi’s patented preclinical and tissue-based multiplexed analysis systems will expand Caliper’s life sciences tools portfolio, particularly as it bridges into clinical research, pathology and clinical market applications.
CRi’s headquarters and manufacturing operations will be consolidated with Caliper‘s existing operations in Hopkinton, Massachussets.
Caliper Life Sciences president and CEO Kevin Hrusovsky said the acquisition extends the reach of Caliper’s proprietary offerings along the in vitro to in vivo bridge by filling the gap in tissue analysis platforms.
"Similar to the approach we used in our successful commercialisation of other disruptive technologies such as microfluidic LabChips and whole animal optical imaging systems, we see an opportunity to leverage CRi’s advanced multiplex technology towards unmet needs in a rapidly changing market, in this case the billion-dollar tissue imaging and digital pathology clinical research market," Hrusovsky said.
"With CRi’s technologies in our toolkit, we will be able to offer a more comprehensive suite of tools and services to address the important emerging trend toward personalized medicine."
Cri president and CEO George Abe said Caliper’s market leadership and extensive corporate relationships within the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, coupled with its rich culture of nurturing and commercializing innovative technologies, make Caliper the right partner to fully realise the market potential of CRi’s portfolio of multiplexed imaging technologies.
CRi said researchers at Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, Dana Farber Cancer Center, Stanford, and Baylor College of Medicine have employed its inForm, Nuance, Vectra and Maestro products to perform high throughput, quantitative imaging of intact tissue, simultaneous analysis of multiple biomarkers, and multispectral imaging of small animals.