New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB®), a leading supplier of life science reagents, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fluorogenics Limited (FGL), a lyophilization R&D service company based in the UK.
Under the terms of the agreement, FGL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEB.
With the point-of-care market becoming more focused on the development of robust, accurate and cost-effective diagnostic tests for use outside of traditional hospital and laboratory settings, there is a growing need for reagents that can withstand ambient shipping and storage. Lyophilization is the preferred solution and is a well-established technology across a number of industries, making it desirable from a regulatory and feasibility perspective. NEB currently supplies research use only reagents for further development and validation by its customers in diagnostic assays, and is looking to increase its ability to offer lyophilized reagents.
“The acquisition of FGL enables NEB to combine our expertise in enzyme manufacturing and assay development with their expertise in lyophilization, providing a complete solution for our customers,” states Jim Ellard, CEO of New England Biolabs. “It also further solidifies our ability to service customers in the molecular diagnostics space.”
Martin Lee, Co-founder CEO of Fluorogenics, Ltd., states, “We are delighted to become part of an organization with which we share ideals, innovation and technical excellence, a passion to make a difference through the delivery of scientific solutions that create value for our customers, and reduce the burden on our planet.”
FGL’s operations will continue without disruption to its existing customers. NEB will be making further investments to strengthen their operations. Further, NEB will be incorporating FGL’s capabilities into its existing OEM and Customized Solutions business, expanding the services that it offers.
Many scientists know NEB as a trusted reagent provider to the life science community. What many do not know is that it also offers a portfolio of products, including PCR/qPCR, LAMP and NGS reagents, that serve as critical components for a wide array of diagnostic products and services. Extensive molecular biology and enzymology experience provides NEB with the unique ability to help customers solve the challenges inherent in diagnostics assay development and ultimately in scale-up and commercialization. This capability now also includes lyophilzation.
