Have you ever heard the term “digital PCR” (Polymerase Chain Reaction)? That technology was of such interest to Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., that it just paid $162 million to acquire QuantaLife, Inc., the company that developed this digital PCR technology. The deal was announced on October 5. In the press release, it was noted that, “QuantaLife has developed an innovative digital PCR system that provides quantification of target molecules with unprecedented precision and sensitivity… Digital PCR provides researchers with a new tool for the detection of rare mutations including distinguishing rare sequences in tumors, precise measurement of copy number variation, and absolute quantification of gene expression.”
MORE ON: Digital PCR
Financial analysts commenting on the acquisition said that digital PCR may be a $100 million per year market in the next three years. The worldwide research market for PCR is estimated to be about $2.5 billion per year. Bio-Rad is estimated to hold a 10% share of that market.
TRANSITIONS
- Lifepoint Informatics, Inc., of Glen Rock, New Jersey, appointed Lee Barnard to the position of Chief Business Development Officer last month. Barnard has held executive positions with Centrex Clinical Laboratories, eCast Corporation, DocSite, LLC, and Laboratory Corporation of America.
- Julie Pantalone was hired to be the Vice President of Sales, Medical Division, for Atlas Development Corporation, based in Calabasa, California. She previously spent more than a decade in sales and business development at William Beaumont Hospital. Prior to that, she held positions at Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.
- Brian Ward was appointed as Chief Executive Officer for diaDexus, Inc., of South San Francisco, California. His executive positions include stints at On-Q-ity, Inc., Genomic Health, Inc., Myriad Genetics, Inc., and Genyzme Genetics.
- Martin Madaus is the new CEO for Quanterix, Corp., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Madaus is the former CEO of Millipore Corp., and was also CEO of Roche Diagnostics.
Dark Daily Update
Have you caught the latest e-briefings from DARK Daily? If so, then you’d know about…
…the acquisition of the anatomic pathology business of Caris Life Sciences, Inc. by the Japanese company Miraca Holdings, Inc., for a hefty sales price of $725 million.
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