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GE ropes in Texas genomics company
May 2012
EDIT CONNECT
SHARING OPTIONS:
CHALFONT ST GILES,
England—In early April, GE Healthcare, a
GE-owned company, completed its acquisition of Houston, Texas-based SeqWright
Inc., a provider of nucleic acid sequencing and other genomic services, now set
to become part of GE Healthcare's Clarient business unit,
which is focused on
developing novel, proprietary diagnostic markers and tests for the profiling of
breast, lung and colon cancers, melanoma and
blood-based cancers. Financial
terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Part of the reason
for the acquisition was to add
complementary genomics capabilities to Clarient, a player in the fast-growing
molecular diagnostics sector, as well as
to provide a platform for Clarient to
expand its clinical diagnostic offerings to include next-generation sequencing.
"Sequencing,
including next-generation sequencing, is a critical technology for GE's medical
diagnostics business. The
acquisition of a laboratory like SeqWright, which has
long-standing expertise in the field as well as an established customer base,
allows us immediate
entry into this space and is an ideal complement to
Clarient's existing PCR and IHC testing in support of pharmaceutical and in-vitro diagnostic
studies," Carrie Eglinton-Manner, CEO of
Clarient, tells ddn, adding that
negotiations with SeqWright began nearly a year ago, in mid-2011.
"Understanding how genetic variation at the molecular level
impacts disease is critical in the
continued discovery and development of new
and more effective therapies, and increasingly in the management of patient
care through the use of more
precise diagnostic tests," said Pascale Witz,
president and CEO of GE Healthcare's Medical Diagnostics business, in the news
release about the
acquisition.
Eglinton-Manner notes that sequencing technology, including
next-generation systems,
has matured to a point where it makes good sense to
start incorporating the platform technology on a more routine basis when
conducting biomarker
research and thinking about clinical practice.
"The scalability and cost of the technology has also
stabilized within the last couple of years to a point where it can be
incorporated into a research and diagnostic workflow," she says. "Furthermore,
our customers' understanding of the technology and its value has reached a
point where we are seeing more large-scale adoption taking place, and
consideration of routine use has occurred."
Given those technology and market changes and
SeqWright's
strengths, the acquisition "made sense now," Eglinton-Manner adds.
"As a CLIA-
certified service provider, we are in a position
to capitalize on the growing role next- and third -generation DNA sequencing
technologies will play in
clinical diagnostics," said Fei Lu, president and CEO
of SeqWright, in the official statement about the deal. "This partnership will
put us in a
position to apply the power of new direct detection technologies to
clinical and companion diagnostics, potentially revolutionizing the way
healthcare
decisions are made."
In addition, GE Healthcare notes, SeqWright has "an
extensive history" of
projects that focus on clinical trial and regulatory
support for companion diagnostic submissions.
Although SeqWright and GE Healthcare had
never worked
together directly before now, SeqWright and GE have worked on sponsor-related
projects where Clarient was conducting non-sequencing-based
testing on samples
and SeqWright was doing the sequencing, Eglinton-Manner says, noting that "This
allowed us to experience the brand recognition as
well as the quality of work
provided by SeqWright."
GE and Clarient plan to retain the existing
leadership team
at SeqWright and the SeqWright employees will remain in Houston to serve as
part of Clarient's Houston-based sequencing laboratory.
"The acquisition of SeqWright by GE Healthcare is about
growth," Eglinton-Manner says. "It is
an acquisition of a business that truly
adds new competence and new technologies. GE Healthcare values the employees
that will be joining the company
as part of this acquisition. The expertise and
knowledge of SeqWright's employees will be key in the continuing growth of the
business."
GE Healthcare, Dyax ink oncology licensing deal
CHALFONT ST GILES, England—GE Healthcare also announced last
month, along with Dyax Corp., a licensing agreement for the development and
commercialization of peptides
binding to c-Met, which provides upfront,
milestone and royalty payments to Dyax.
Research of potential
diagnostic applications and use as a
patient selection biomarker in oncology will be explored by GE Healthcare in
collaboration with academic
institutions and pharmaceutical companies. The
license includes application of the peptides in positron emission tomography
(PET), single proton
emission computed tomography (SPECT) and optical imaging.
"Growth factor receptors such as c-Met
are promising
therapeutic targets that could be a critical factor in the development of
colorectal, lung and liver oncology drugs," said Marivi
Mendizabal, head of
research at GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics, in a statement. "As in-vivo imaging technologies become increasingly
important
in oncology drug development, our vision is that we will be able to rapidly
develop new targeted molecular diagnostics—not just for our own
clinical
portfolio, but as 'companion' diagnostic offerings for our strategic biopharmaceutical
partnerships."
"This agreement validates the strength of Dyax's core phage
display library technology to support GE Healthcare's work to aid the
development of cutting-edge treatment options for patients," added Gustav
Christensen, president and CEO of Dyax. "With 18 Dyax-derived antibody or
peptide programs currently in human clinical trials, we continue to demonstrate
the utility of Dyax's proven and highly successful engine to power
both
therapeutic and diagnostic development." Code: E051213 Back |
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