Agilent Purchases Diagnostics Company Multiplicom

Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, California, USA) and Multiplicom N.V. (Niel, Belgium) have announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Agilent to acquire Multiplicom, a European diagnostics company involved in genetic testing. Agilent is acquiring Multiplicom for approximately €68 million in cash.

Multiplicom develops, manufactures, and commercializes molecular-diagnostic solutions, provided as kits, which enable personalized medicine. Specifically, these solutions enable clinical labs to identify the DNA variants that are associated with a genetic disease or predisposition in patients, or that may steer cancer therapy or identify congenital defects early in pregnancy.

Herman Verrelst, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s Genomics Division, said, “The acquisition of Multiplicom significantly strengthens our presence in the genomics market. Multiplicom’s products and technology help expand our target-enrichment portfolio and enhance our next-generation sequencing workflow capabilities - providing immediate scale in adjacent markets.”

“Multiplicom is excited to be a part of Agilent and for the opportunity to offer our products and technology to a global customer base,” said Dirk Pollet, Multiplicom’s CEO. “We are also immensely grateful to our investors Gimv, PMV, Qbic, RMM, University of Antwerpen and VIB for their unwavering support from Day One.”

For more information, please visit: www.agilent.com