Life Technologies Buys Foster City-Based Navigenics

Life Technologies this week announced that is has completed its purchase of the Foster City-based, venture-backed startup Navigenics.

Life Technologies manufactures machines used for decoding human DNA. Navigenics provides personalized genomics testing for consumers.

In an article on Xconomy.com, Life Tech representatives said the deal represents the company’s first step "in a strategy to build out its molecular diagnostics business through select acquisitions, internal development, and partnerships."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Navigenics' government-approved medical genetics laboratories and data systems will speed development of tests that help doctors prescribe cancer drugs, said Greg Lucier, Life Tech’s chairman and chief executive officer, in an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

According to BusinessWeek, Navigenics was established in 2006 to help patients and their doctors understand the health implications of variations in their genomes.

By combining the two companies' various areas of expertise and technology, Life Tech hopes to expand its cancer companion diagnostics - tests that can tell doctors when a specific tumor has a DNA mutation that can be targeted by a drug.

BusinessWeek reports Life Technologies shares rose 0.4 percent at the close in New York to $43.15 Monday. The shares have climbed 11 percent this year.

BusinessWeek said an insurance industry study released in March predicted the U.S. market for genetic testing will quintuple over the next decade. Life is planning more acquisitions to compete in the market, Lucier told the news outlet.

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