Thermo Fisher Scientific has agreed to acquire cellular and genetic analysis products provider Affymetrix, for around $1.3bn.
Affymetrix provides its products to the customers in various sectors, including life sciences and translational research, molecular diagnostics, reproductive health and agricultural biotechnology.
The company provides a wide range of antibodies, multiplex RNA, and protein and single-cell assays, which serve cytometry market segment, as well as single-cell biology, immunotherapy and infectious disease research.
Its microarray platform will enhance Thermo Fisher’s presence in certain clinical and applied markets, including reproductive health and agricultural biotechnology.
With around $350m annual revenues, Affymetrix carries out operations in the US, Europe and Asia. It has manufacturing facilities in Cleveland, San Diego, US, as well as Vienna of Austria and Singapore.
Thermo Fisher Scientific president and CEO Marc Casper said: "The acquisition of Affymetrix will strengthen our leadership in biosciences and create new market opportunities for us in genetic analysis."
Affymetrix president and CEO: "We are excited about the opportunity to combine our portfolios and strengthen our position in high-growth markets such as single-cell biology, reproductive health and AgBio."
Subject to the approval of Affymetrix shareholders and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to complete by the end of the second quarter this year.
In November 2015, Thermo Fisher partnered with drugmakers Novartis and Pfizer to develop and commercialize a multi-marker, universal next-generation sequencing-based oncology test, which will serve as a companion diagnostic for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) across multiple drug development programs.
Image: Thermo Fisher Scientific headquarters in Waltham. Photo: courtesy of Coolcaesar.