Roche ($RHHBY) has been hot on the dealmaking trail this past year, snatching up smaller companies to boost its portfolio. In its latest round of M&A, the diagnostics giant is acquiring Kapa Biosystems, getting its hands on the company's next-generation sequencing (NGS) products to further build out its offerings.
Neither side is revealing financial details, but Roche will inherit Wilmington, MA-based Kapa's genomic tools as part of the deal. Kapa's protein engineering technology allows customers to produce and screen large numbers of enzyme variants, and its reagents include DNA polymerases that could make sequencing more efficient, the company said in a statement.
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| Roland Diggelmann, COO of Roche Diagnostics Global--courtesy of Roche |
"This acquisition builds on Roche's commitment to develop a differentiated NGS portfolio that will provide our customers with a complete genetic testing solution," Roland Diggelmann, COO of Roche Diagnostics, said in a statement. "Kapa's technology and products complement our current expertise and offerings such as the portfolio of target enrichment products for NGS."
The deal comes on the heels of more sequencing M&A, as Roche continues to make acquisitions to bolster its presence in the field. Last year, the company said it would shell out $350 million for DNA sequencing business Genia Technologies, getting its hands on Genia's single-molecule semiconductor DNA sequencing platform. In December, the diagnostics heavyweight grabbed DNA sequencing outfit Bina Technologies for an undisclosed sum to gain access to Bina's genomic management tool.
In February, Roche acquired Germany's Signature Diagnostics to advance its cancer testing portfolio. The company planned to use samples from Signature's blood plasma and tissue biobanks to develop circulating cell-free DNA tests for noninvasive cancer monitoring.
Roche is also expanding on other fronts, shelling out $1.2 billion earlier this year for a majority share in Foundation Medicine ($FMI). As part of the deal, Roche said it would funnel $150 million over the next 5 years into a "broad R&D collaboration" that speeds up Foundation's product development and expands the companies' global marketing efforts.
Last week, Roche continued its buying spree by handing over up to $425 million for superbug testing outfit GeneWeave BioSciences. GeneWeave's Smarticles technology can quickly pinpoint multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and screen for antibiotic susceptibility in clinical samples, giving Roche a useful tool for combating recent drug-resistant bacteria outbreaks, Diggelmann said at the time.
- read Roche's statement
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