Sequenom Sells Bioscience Business
Sequenom Bioscience 2013 revenues declined 0.9% to $42.9 million. Sequenom announced last fall it was seeking strategic alternatives for the unit (see IBO 9/30/13). Sequenom will now focus on its noninvasive-prenatal-testing business. John Lillig formerly served as senior vice president and managing director of Brooks Automation Life Science Systems.
San Diego, CA 5/30/14; San Diego, CA 5/30/14—Sequenom has sold its Bioscience unit to Agena Bioscience, a Telegraph Hill Partners company, for $31.8 million and contingent consideration of up to $4 million. The Bioscience business manufactures and sells the MALDI-TOF MS–based MassARRAY platform for genetic analysis in research and clinical labs. Agena will retain all employees and expand the instrument’s hardware automation, software functionality, high-value assay content and support resources for basic, agricultural and clinical research. “MassARRAY has become a fundamental tool for genomic research. We believe it will have a similar impact as a high-throughput and cost effective workhorse technology for mutation detection and targeted genomic analysis of cancer and other diseases in the clinical laboratory setting as well,” stated John Lillig, chairman and interim CEO of Agena. Agena also plans to extend MassARRAY into the IVD market.
