NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Seahorse Biosciences has acquired BioProcessors, a manufacturer of systems for developing and optimizing production of biological products from mammalian cell culture, for an undisclosed sum.
Though the value of the acquisition was not disclosed, Seahorse said that concurrent with the deal it had raised $6 million in private funding from venture capital investors. Among those investors are Commonwealth Capital, Oxford Bioscience, Flagship Ventures, Life Sciences Partners, FLIR Systems, Healthcare Ventures, New Science Ventures, and HLM Venture Partners.
Billerica, Mass.-based Seahorse sells its XF Series instruments, which measure energy consumption and mitochondrial function in cells in a 24- or 96-well microplate.
Woburn, Mass.-based BioProcessors makes the SimCell System, a fully integrated cell culture automation system used for selecting clones, optimizing media, and determining the best process conditions for protein manufacturing. Among BioProcessors' customers are Amgen, Life Technologies, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk.
"Our sales of XF series instruments tripled in 2008, and we introduced three new products to this market at the end of the year," Seahorse CEO Jay Teich said in a statement. "With the addition of the people and technologies of BioProcessors, we will expand and grow the SimCell product line and markets during the coming year."