Roche has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kapa Biosystems (Kapa) a privately-held company headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA. Kapa Biosystems is a provider of genomic tools in the life sciences sector that employs proprietary technologies to optimize enzymes for next-generation sequencing (NGS), as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR applications.

Kapa's proprietary protein engineering technology is highly customizable and allows for the generation and screening of large numbers of enzyme variants. Its portfolio of NGS reagents includes enzymes such as novel DNA polymerases, with the potential to improve the performance of the entire sequencing workflow.

"This acquisition builds on Roche's commitment to develop a differentiated NGS portfolio that will provide our customers with a complete genetic testing solution," said Mr Roland Diggelmann, COO Roche Diagnostics Division. He added, "Kapa's technology and products complement our current expertise and offerings such as the portfolio of target enrichment products for NGS. We welcome Kapa's employees and are looking forward to strengthening our NGS offerings with this unique technology."

Mr Paul McEwan, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Kapa Biosystems, said, "Joining Roche provides us access to their broad product portfolio, global reach and clinical expertise that will accelerate our strategy of offering comprehensive NGS workflow solutions to more laboratories around the world. We are also excited to have the opportunity to further leverage our enzyme engineering capabilities to advance the fields of genomics and sequencing, with the ultimate goal of having a more significant impact on medicine and human health."

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.