NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Singapore-based Vela Diagnostics said today that it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Great Basin Scientific for an undisclosed amount and will take over the company's site in Salt Lake City.
The acquisition will add microbiology capabilities to Vela's existing business in virology and oncology. Great Basin has six cartridge-based assays that are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration — including tests for stool bacterial pathogens, C. difficile, group B Streptococcus, shiga toxin, Staphylococcus, and Bordetella — all of which run on the company's chip-based analyzer platform.
Vela said that with these assays already being provided to point-of-care customers, the technology is a "strategic fit" to its existing portfolio, covering a set of medium-multiplexing applications that complements Vela's low-multiplex PCR and high-multiplex NGS platforms.
"With the addition of the Great Basin’s technology, near-patient care customers will be able to benefit from this new microbiology offering in our existing geographies; and our presence in the US will be enhanced," Vela CEO Michael Tillmann said in a statement.
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Last summer, Great Basin said it had received notice for being in default of senior notes for $18.3 million.