The merged firm will offer products that cover a greater number of applications and different volume ranges.

Labcyte and Allegro Technologies, which conducts business as Deerac Fluidics, have agreed to merge. Products from both Labcyte and Deerac address low-volume liquid handling. Yet, each company utilizes a unique technology and operates in different volume ranges, making for a complementary product line through this combination, according to the firms.


The new company will gain from a combined product line that addresses a larger range of applications. Deerac’s expertise reportedly lies in genomic assays, while Labcyte focuses on high-throughput screening, miniaturization, and reagent microtransfers. 


The Deerac products are based on a patented feed-back controlled system that is rapid, parallel, and most effective in the 50-nanoliter to 20-microliter range. The Labcyte Echo® liquid handlers use acoustic energy to transfer 2.5-nanoliter droplets and are most useful in the 2.5 to 200 nanoliter range. These technologies can be used together, when one component of an assay is added in the low nanoliter range and others are added in larger amounts.


“At Labcyte, we evaluated a wide variety of low-volume liquid handlers and found the Deerac Latitude™ and Equator™ to have the best precision in the 50-nanoliter range,” says Elaine J. Heron, Ph.D., CEO of Labcyte. “We also found that the speed and flexibility of the Latitude could double the throughput of our new POD™ 810 plate assembler for assay plate preparation.


“Having research and manufacturing groups in Dublin,” Dr. Heron adds, “gives us a solid base from which to support our growing business in Europe.”


Completion of the transaction is expected within one month, the companies report.

Previous articleGenomic Health Found Genes Associated with Colon Cancer Recurrence and Chemo Response
Next articleCryo-Cell and Saneron Sign Neurodegenerative Disorder Deal Using Stem Cell Technology