NEW YORK – PerkinElmer said this week it has agreed to acquire viral vector-based technologies provider Sirion Biotech for an undisclosed amount. Waltham, Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer said the deal complements its Horizon Discovery portfolio and will expand its offerings in cell and gene research solutions, which include high content, in vivo, and cell painting screening technologies; immunoassays; cell plate readers; and advanced automation, microfluidics, and informatics and analytical platforms.
Privately held Sirion is headquartered in Munich and has about 50 employees in Germany, the US, and France. Its licensing portfolio is leveraged by more than a dozen major pharmaceutical and biotech companies doing research in more than 25 diseases and conditions, PerkinElmer said.
The Tecan Group said this week it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Paramit and its affiliates for $1 billion. Morgan Hill, California-based Paramit is an original equipment manufacturer of medical devices and life sciences instruments. The company has 1,000 employees and has been privately held by Altaris Capital Partners since 2011.
Mannedorf, Switzerland-based Tecan said the deal will bolster its life sciences and in vitro diagnostics operations by increasing its engineering and manufacturing capabilities in North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Products manufactured by Paramit include surgical instruments, point-of-care and personal testing devices, diagnostic systems, and modules and systems for surgical robotics.
In 2021, Tecan is expected to generate about $280 million in sales. Tecan said the deal is expected to add about $300 million in revenues to the firm in 2022.
DermTech said this week that it is collaborating with researchers from the University of Barcelona to investigate the modulatory effect of targeted therapies in models of inflammatory skin disease. The study will use DermTech's platform to investigate inflammatory pathways underlying the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, as well as in vitro models of those diseases.
The Access to Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Coalition this week added Personal Genome Diagnostics and Sema4 to its coalition of diagnostics companies, laboratory service providers, and comprehensive genomic profiling industry stakeholders to advocate for appropriate broad US health insurance coverage of CGP for patients living with advanced cancer.
BioReference Laboratories announced this week that it is rolling out a COVID-19 testing program for US-based crew and guests traveling with Royal Caribbean Group cruise ships. Under the terms of the agreement, unvaccinated guests will be required to receive rapid point-of-care testing for COVID-19 before embarking on their trips and at the end of the trip before disembarking. Depending on the length of the trip, guests may also receive testing on board the ship. All Royal Caribbean crew members will be required to receive laboratory-based PCR testing at regular intervals, BioReference added.
Personal Genome Diagnostics (PGDx) announced this week that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to develop solutions aimed at enabling the use of next-generation sequencing and genomic-based tumor profiling in various clinical operations and laboratory settings.
The groups will initially focus on developing a precision diagnostics solution that enables seamless introduction of NGS testing in local clinical labs. The groups also plan to creating an on-site training program with an emphasis on lab and clinical operations to accomplish broad-scale patient access.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.