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Expression Analysis CEO Says Quintiles Deal Will Expand Reach to Pharma Customers

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Genomics services provider Expression Analysis will gain access to "unsurpassed global resources" and will be able to "close strategic relationships" with leading biopharmaceutical companies by becoming part of Quintiles, EA CEO Steve McPhail said this week.

Quintiles, a biopharmaceutical services and clinical research organization, announced earlier this week that it has acquired EA for an undisclosed sum. Both of the privately held firms are based in Research Triangle Park, NC.

McPhail told BioArray News in an e-mail that in addition to its global reach and its pharma ties, Quintiles will provide EA with access to "market-leading services across the clinical and commercial spectrum," a "strong business development platform," and "financial strength" for expansion and partnerships.

"With access to more clinical programs, EA's expertise can be applied more broadly to improve the knowledge of diseases and treatments at the molecular level, patient selection, and the productivity and efficiency of clinical research," McPhail said.

Founded in 2001, EA currently offers a number of services, including whole-genome sequencing, gene-expression analysis, and genotyping. It offers customers access to Affymetrix GeneChips; Agilent's SureSelect; Fluidigm's Access Arrays; Illumina's BeadChips, iScan, Genome Analyzer, and HiSeq; RainDance Technologies' RDT 1000; and Pacific Biosciences' PacBio RS. The firm also has a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-compliant laboratory

According to McPhail, as part of Quintiles, EA will "continue to support its current projects, customers, and services in genomic preclinical and discovery studies," and he vowed the firm will continue to provide the same "level of quality and customer service."

EA has around 77 employees and McPhail said that all of them will become part of Quintiles. McPhail will also continue to run EA within Quintiles, though he said his official title has not been decided.

Thomas Wollman, senior vice president of Quintiles Global Laboratories, said in a statement that the deal is "another step forward" in the company's efforts to "bring personalized medicine into mainstream drug development."

Last year Quintiles purchased the BioServices Division of proteomics technologies firm Advion and partnered with UK firm Population Genetics Technologies in an effort to incorporate genomic testing into mainstream drug development.

Quintiles also has an alliance with London Genetics focused on providing biomarker and pharmacogenomics consulting and services to biopharmaceutical firms and a companion diagnostics alliance with Dako, now part of Agilent Technologies.