Bio-Rad Laboratories has agreed to acquire RainDance Technologies for an undisclosed price, the companies said today.
“The company's droplet-based solutions will extend our reach into next-generation sequencing (NGS) applications and strengthen our position in the area of Droplet Digital™ PCR,” Bio-Rad president and CEO Norman Schwartz said in a statement. “We look forward to expanding our offering to provide life science and clinical diagnostics customers with solutions for a wide range of nucleic acid detection applications.”
Headquartered in Billerica, MA, RainDance has specialized in the development and application of droplet microfluidic technology, with applications in life science research and clinical research.
RainDance markets products for digital PCR and sample enrichment for NGS and has demonstrated the feasibility of using its droplet technology for digital enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), linked-read NGS, single-cell analysis, compound screening for therapeutics, and enzyme evolution.
Since its founding in 2004, RainDance has built a foundational intellectual property portfolio and product lines encompassing a wide range of biological reactions in droplets. RainDance’s genomic tools include RainDrop® Digital PCR, ThunderStorm®, and ThunderBolts™ Next-Generation Sequencing Enrichment—all designed to offer accurate, reliable, and cost-effective detection of genetic variations in cancer, as well as inherited and infectious diseases.
Bio-Rad said it will discuss the acquisition further during its upcoming Q4 and full-year 2016 financial results conference call. No date for that event had been announced at deadline.
Bio-Rad said it expects the acquisition deal to close during the first quarter of this year.
