4 March, 2020 – 11:06 by Tony Quested – Cambridge life sciences influencer Abcam has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire a major detection tools business in the US. The UK company, which supplies life science tools to researchers worldwide, has bought Marker Gene Technologies, an Oregon company that has been a market leader in its field for two decades.
Following the recent acquisition of Expedeon’s proteomics and immunology business, and aligned with a broader antibody-conjugation strategy, the acquisition of MGT brings additional proprietary assay development technologies and labelling capabilities to Abcam.
MGT’s team have expertise in the areas of biology, organic synthesis and fluorescence chemistry and are experienced in the creation of detection tools that enable enhanced understanding of biological processes.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed and are expected to have a minimal impact on revenue and earnings in the current financial year.
A substantial portion of the consideration for the deal will be funded from newly issued Abcam shares. An application has been made to AIM for the admission to trading of 49,416 new ordinary shares of 0.2p each in the company from around March 9.
Marker Gene Technologies’ mission is to provide innovative new products for the biotechnology and medical industries at the highest quality and with affordable prices for customers.
The company has received a number of competitive grant awards for its work in cancer research and therapeutics from the National Institutes of Health as well as funding from the National Science Foundation for new uses of marker genes for agricultural biotechnology, cell culturing, bacteriology and basic research applications.