Floragenex, a genomics testing service provider focused on next-generation DNA sequencing, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of point-of-care diagnostics developer Sedia Biosciences, the companies said today, through a merger whose value was not disclosed.

The merger is designed to create a combined provider of genomic services for scientific customers as well as testing solutions for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other infectious agents. Sedia, founded in 2009, develops and commercializes point-of-care diagnostics in HIV and other human diseases.

Roger Gale, Sedia’s Chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the merger “will strengthen and diversify our scientific capability across both immuno and molecular (DNA) diagnostic technologies, broaden our potential product range, expand access to the plant and animal kingdom markets, accelerate development of next-generation products, and strengthen sales and marketing, business development, and strategic planning.”

“The merger will also yield many synergies and benefits in the months and years ahead,” Gale added.

Ronald Mink, Ph.D., Sedia’s president and CSO, added that the combined expertise of both companies will enable Sedia to expand into novel molecular diagnostic products and allow further expansion into plant and animal testing.

Sedia, based in Portland, OR, has focused on developing rapid point-of-care diagnostic assays, novel epidemiological disease surveillance assays and other public health tools, as well as clinical specimen collection devices designed to improve and facilitate remote collection of specimens for follow-up testing.

Floragenex CEO Rick Nipper, Ph.D., will oversee the new subsidiary, which has focused on genomic analysis in human, plant, and animal systems since it was founded in 2007 as a spin out of the University of Oregon. The company—which has offices in Portland, OR, and Eugene, OR—has sequenced over 120 unique plant, animal, and metazoan species and last year generated over 800 billion basepairs of genomic sequence, according to its website.

In the statement, Dr. Nipper added that Sedia has been a corporate partner of Floragenex since last year: “The merger with Sedia Biosciences will help expand Floragenex’s expertise in the product and diagnostic spaces while helping to grow our existing genomic services business.”

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