Agilent Acquires Life Sciences Company Avida Biomed

Agilent Technologies announced the acquisition of Avida Biomed, an early stage life sciences company, on Jan. 4, 2022. This acquisition grants Agilent access to Avida’s high-performance enrichment workflows, which are designed to enable clinical researchers to use next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches for studying cancer. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed in the company press release.

According to the release, this acquisition will complement Agilent’s existing portfolio and help the company expand into high-growth clinical research and diagnostics markets. The chemistries and assays from Avida are compatible with Agilent’s existing automation platforms, facilitating efficient scaling of research experiments and routine sample testing.

Additionally, Avida’s genomics tools enable simultaneous genomic and DNA methylation profiling from a single sample, according to the release; similarly, its streamlined assay protocols, which includes library preparation, can be completed in a single shift. The automatable workflow has also been validated for use with various sample types, including liquid biopsy.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Avida Biomed team to Agilent. We’re also very excited to be able to bring these powerful tools to our oncology customers around the world who are working to improve the understanding of cancer and the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients,” said Sam Raha, president, Diagnostics and Genomics Group, Agilent, in the release.

“Target enrichment is key to conducting an in-depth analysis of gene targets of interest. We look forward to combining our resources and expertise to make our tools and techniques widely available to clinical researchers across the globe,” said Shengrong Lin, CEO, Avida Biomed, in the release.

Source: Agilent