NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Affymetrix today said that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of USB Corp. for approximately $75 million in cash.
USB, a privately held firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, sells three product lines: molecular biology enzymes and kits, biochemical reagents, and membrane protein research tools.
Its roots date back to the 1970s when it was known as United States Biochemical. After Amersham Life Science purchased United States Biochemical in 1993 and then merged with Pharmacia Biotech in 1997, USB’s management team bought the company’s three main product lines back from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech to create USB in 1998.
Affymetrix President Kevin King said in a statement today that the acquisition “immediately expands our talent base, enhances our whole-product solution offering, and creates new, long-term growth opportunities.”
Earlier this month, Stephen Fodor, Affy's chairman and CEO, told attendees of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco that it plans to use USB's reagents for a new technology it is developing that combines DNA sequencing and microarrays.
At the time, Fodor said the new technology was "one of the reasons why we acquired USB."