Malvern Instruments acquired GE Healthcare Life Sciences' microcalorimetry business MicroCal. The analytical instrument manufacturer says the acquisition should be completed sometime in 2014's third quarter.
MicroCal, which has been developing and supplying microcalorimeters since the late 1970s, will retain its location in Northampton, MA. Malvern believes the acquisition will strengthen its portfolio of analytical solutions for its pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers.
“MicroCal products are an excellent fit with Malvern’s existing portfolio of measurement solutions for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries,” Paul Walker, Malvern Instruments' managing director, said in a statement. “Their ability to deliver information about drug binding and protein stability is entirely complementary to Malvern’s current products and to those in development.”
Malvern made another big purchase last year in acquiring NanoSight, the firm that developed Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA), which can detect and visualize within liquids populations of nanoparticles as small as 10 nm, then measures the size of each particle based on direct observations of diffusion. Malvern's goal was to improve its nanoscale solutions, as NTA reportedly is closely aligned with its own Zetasizer range, which is used for nanoparticle, colloid, and protein size, zeta potential, and molecular weight measurements.
