Invitrogen, providing innovative technologies to support disease research and improving the human condition, has acquired the assets of the BioPixels business unit of BioCrystal, Quantum Dots
These acquisitions are part of a long term strategy to bolster Invitrogen's molecular probes business as the market leader in labelling and detection technologies.
Invitrogen intends to create new innovative products that enable life science researchers to better visualise and understand cellular processes, DNA mutations, and other factors essential to diagnosing and treating disease.
"Invitrogen's molecular probes business is the market leader in organic chemistry-based labeling and detection technologies," said Augie Sick, general manager of Molecular Probes.
"These acquisitions provide Invitrogen with a significant intellectual property position and robust platform for product development based on advanced inorganic materials science for molecular detection".
"Molecular labelling and detection technologies are a cornerstone of Invitrogen's business and represent one of the fastest growing segments in life sciences.
"The ability to illuminate biological processes taking place, such as whether a defect in the function of a heart cell is causing a patient's heart disease, is becoming a preferred method for molecular research and diagnostic applications," explained Gregory Lucier, chairman and CEO of Invitrogen.
"By adding advanced nanotechnology capabilities to our existing labelling and detection franchise, Invitrogen has positioned itself at the cutting edge of this exciting field, providing innovative solutions for use by our customers and in our own research and development of novel technologies in proteomics, genomics, gene expression and imaging".
BioCrystal has developed novel coatings and metal alloys for semiconductor nanocrystals.
These specially coated fluorescent nanocrystals, called BioPixels, have been applied to multicolour labeling, sorting and imaging of cells, lateral flow immunoassays and fluorescent inks, and represent a promising technology for the development of automated assays of complex biological samples.
"We are very pleased to know that our fluorescent nanocrystal technology will play an important role for Invitrogen in growing their fluorescence detection business," added Jeff Bergen, CEO of BioCrystal.
BioCrystal has created a vital business environment in which the company has been granted 37 patents for product development in three technology areas: nanocrystalline fluorescent markers (BioPixels) for cell and intracellular detection and analysis; therapeutic compounds and procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer; and OptiCell, a versatile disposable tool for broad use in cell and tissue culture.
