Invitrogen Strengthens DNA/RNA Purification Product Line with Acquisition of DNA Research Innovations, Ltd.
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN) today announced it has acquired DNA Research Innovations, Ltd. (DRI), a privately-held company based in Kent, England, that develops and markets innovative products for the purification of DNA and other nucleic acids. DRI’s patent-protected ChargeSwitch(R) Technology (CST(R)) is versatile, works in multiple formats, produces high purity and yield, and is safe and easy-to-use. According to the terms of the deal, Invitrogen paid $35 million in cash, and may make contingent payments of up to $30 million based upon the completion of certain R & D milestones. The deal is not expected to change Invitrogen’s guidance for the fourth quarter of 2004.
DRI’s technology can be used with either DNA or RNA in a range of formats, and includes simple manual purification of a few samples as well as high throughput automated applications. It requires just three simple steps to extract nucleic acids from a wide variety of sources, including bacteria, tissues, blood, forensic sample and buccal cells. CST can be applied to many surfaces, including magnetic beads, microtiter plates, columns and cartridges and Invitrogen expects that this could result in the development of novel, tailor-made purification strategies. Unlike other DNA/RNA purification methods, CST does not need hazardous or caustic chemicals, which are known to compromise the efficiency of many downstream processes such as PCR and their absence in CST-based protocols can offer significant performance benefits.
“As the starting point for much of today’s biomedical R&D, nucleic acid purification is a critically important segment where we intend to offer our customers the best technology available,” said Gregory T. Lucier, Invitrogen’s Chairman and CEO. “We believe the advantages of ChargeSwitch Technology will provide researchers with a compelling reason to start their projects using Invitrogen products, and the benefits of our optimized and integrated suite of leading research technologies will give them equally compelling reasons to stay. Acquisition of this versatile technology is another step in our ongoing campaign to reinforce our position as the global research partner of choice to accelerate drug discovery and development.”
DRI is currently selling a number of purification kits in the U.K. and has a pipeline of additional products scheduled for release in the future. Automation is available on a Tecan platform, with additional automation options by other instrument providers in development. The CST technology, when combined with other nucleic acid purification products internally developed by Invitrogen over the last 18 months, will now provide customers with a compelling choice in the market for their research and molecular diagnostic needs.
“The breakthrough capabilities of our CST technology make Invitrogen a natural partner for DRI,” said Dr. Simon Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of DRI. “Likewise, Invitrogen has the resources to provide the marketing, distribution and technical assistance needed to make our reagent kits widely accessible to researchers around the world.”
About Invitrogen
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen’s own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bio-informatics and cell biology — placing Invitrogen’s products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,000 scientists and other professionals. For more information about Invitrogen, visit the company’s web site at www.invitrogen.com .
About DNA Research Innovations (DRI)
DRI are heading the next generation in nucleic acid extraction with their proprietary ChargeSwitch(R) Technology (CST). This simple aqueous technique removes the time-consuming steps, chaotropes, alcohols and other undesirable reagents associated with other extraction techniques. In addition, the flexibility of the CST approach gives it potential for use with sample volumes of 10ul to 10ml across a wide range of sample types, ranging from blood and buccal cells, through to sources such as microbial cells and tissue samples.
This broad platform technology has the potential to become the global method of choice for nucleic acid purification.
