Malvern Instruments Ltd. (Malvern, UK) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with GE Healthcare Life Sciences to acquire the company’s MicroCal microcalorimetry business.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2014.
MicroCal has a 30-year history of developing and supplying easy-to-use microcalorimeters. These systems are used extensively to study proteins and other biomolecules in drug discovery and development.
The acquisition of MicroCal will further strengthen Malvern’s rapidly expanding portfolio of analytical solutions for customers in core pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical markets. Within Malvern, MicroCal will retain its key location in Northampton, Massachusetts and will become an integral part of the Malvern business.
Paul Walker, managing director of Malvern Instruments, said: "Microcalorimetry is now an essential tool that is used at almost every stage of the drug discovery, development and formulation process. MicroCal is an established technology leader in the field.
"MicroCal products are an excellent fit with Malvern’s existing portfolio of measurement solutions for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
Their ability to deliver information about drug binding and protein stability is entirely complementary to Malvern’s current products and to those in development.
"This addition to our business will have an immediate impact on Malvern’s ability to provide a complete range of instrumentation solutions and support across life science research and development. I very much look forward to welcoming the talented MicroCal team into the Malvern family."
Headquartered in the UK, Malvern Instruments is a global business that serves a diverse range of academic and industrial markets, providing instrumentation for the analysis of a wide variety of materials. The company is part of the Materials Analysis Division of Spectris plc.
MicroCal differential scanning calorimeters (DSC) and isothermal titration calorimeters (ITC) are used in areas from basic research to the discovery and development of small molecules, biotherapeutics and vaccines. Customers are based in pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and government organizations around the worldwide.