GE Healthcare Acquires MicroCal Broadening Capabilities In Biomedical And Pharmaceutical Research
CHALFONT ST. GILES, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), today announced it has acquired MicroCal LLC, a provider of innovative instruments for the study of molecular interactions in pharmaceutical, biomedical and life science research. The acquisition of MicroCal will allow GE Healthcare to expand its offering of technologies for the rapidly growing areas of protein science and drug discovery research. Financial terms were not disclosed.
MicroCal develops and manufactures microcalorimeters that provide detailed information on the structure, function and binding properties of a wide range of biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and antibodies. The growing trend towards structure-based drug design together with the expansion in biopharmaceutical development is driving an increase in the use of microcalorimetry as a standard technique in pharmaceutical research.
MicroCal's proprietary technology, which is complementary to GE Healthcare's Biacore platform, provides scientists with detailed information across several stages of the drug discovery process, reducing the potential for late-stage drug candidate failures. MicroCal's technology is already used in over one thousand laboratories worldwide.
Peter Ehrenheim, President and CEO of GE Healthcare's Life Sciences business, said, "MicroCal is a company with a strong reputation for innovation in microcalorimetry and is a great strategic fit with our Life Sciences business. The combination of GE Healthcare's expertise in protein science together with the talent of the team at MicroCal will help us drive development of new technologies and create an extensive offering across the full spectrum of the drug discovery and development process."
GE Healthcare plans to develop the MicroCal facility in Northampton, Massachusetts into a centre of excellence for microcalorimetry. This acquisition is consistent with GE's strategy to invest in high-technology, innovative businesses that deliver strong top-line growth and expanded margins.
"We are very excited to be part of GE Healthcare," said Richard Brown, CEO, MicroCal. "We see great potential for this business. The resources of GE Healthcare and the wider GE group will allow us to significantly widen our reach and to jointly develop new technologies, products and applications which will help scientists increase their understanding of molecular interactions. The MicroCal team very much looks forward to working with GE Healthcare's leadership to realize the potential of this great technology."
MicroCal was majority owned by private equity firm Riverside Partners, which invested in the company in 1999. Brian Guthrie, General Partner at Riverside Partners said: "MicroCal has grown considerably during our investment in the company and has excellent prospects for continued growth as a part of GE Healthcare. We have enjoyed our partnership with the talented and dedicated MicroCal team and wish them and GE Healthcare ongoing success."
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.
GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
About MicroCal LLC
MicroCal is a research-based company that develops and manufactures the most sensitive and reliable microcalorimeters available, primarily for use in the life sciences. Our commitment to excellence and innovation in microcalorimetry enables our customers with detailed information about how drug candidates interact with their intended targets. Understanding these interactions provides valuable information to enhance decision making early in the drug discovery process, enabling better selection of drug candidates and potentially reducing the risk of late-stage failures.
MicroCal equipment is in use in over 1,000 labs worldwide, both for R&D and commercial applications. MicroCal is based in Northampton, Massachusetts and was founded in 1977 by Dr. John Brandts, a professor of chemistry at the University of Massachusetts. The company has approximately 75 employees and estimated 2008 revenues of approximately $28 million growing at a rate of over 25% per annum.
Richard Brown, CEO of MicroCal, will continue to operate the business from the Northampton facility. More information is available at http://www.microcal.com/.
About Riverside Partners
Founded in 1989, Riverside Partners is a middle market private equity firm particularly experienced at partnering with founders, owners and management teams, bringing substantial domain expertise and operating experience to its portfolio companies. The partners at Riverside have managed more than $500 million in investments in over 50 companies.
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