Roche has entered an agreement to acquire the US-based microbiology diagnostic company GeneWEAVE BioScience for $235m.
Under the agreement, Roche will pay GeneWEAVE shareholders $190m upfront and up to $235m in contingent product related milestones.
Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Roche is a privately held in-vitro diagnostics company focused on developing innovative, clinical microbiology diagnostics solutions.
The company’s solutions aim to assist healthcare providers in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria by enabling impactful surveillance programmes, early therapy guidance and successful antibiotic stewardship.
The acquisition provides Roche with access to GeneWEAVE’s Smarticles technology, which is designed to quickly identify multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) and assess antibiotic susceptibility directly from clinical samples, without the need for legacy enrichment, culture or sample preparation processes.
Roche Diagnostics chief operating officer Roland Diggelmann said: "With GeneWEAVE, we further strengthen our microbiology diagnostics offerings with cutting-edge technology that will aid in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
"This technology has the potential to provide healthcare professionals access to quick and accurate diagnoses that can lead to rapid, informed treatment decisions.
"We welcome GeneWEAVE’s employees, who will continue to focus on the development and manufacturing of diagnostics solutions based on the Smarticles technology."
GeneWEAVE CEO Steve Tablak said: "Roche is the ideal company to deliver on the promise of our Smarticles technology. We are fully committed to the continued success of GeneWEAVE’s employees, products and pipeline."
GeneWEAVE is also developing a fully automated, random-access system, called vivoDx, to help address the requirements of laboratories meeting MDRO detection and antibiotic therapy guidance.
According to Roche, the technology is currently being tested at multiple sites across the US.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. After the transaction is complete, GeneWEAVE will be integrated into Roche Molecular Diagnostics.
