Accelrys has bought Qumas, a provider of cloud-based and on-premise enterprise compliance software for regulatory and quality operations in regulated industries including the life sciences, for $50 million.
Accelrys said that the added intellectual property extends its informatics portfolio by providing document and process management compliance solutions that improve its ability to help customers reduce regulatory risks and quality costs, improve compliance, and increase operational efficiency across their product development lifecyles.
Operating from offices in Cork, Ireland and New Jersey, Qumas provides an electronic document management application with related research and development submission and QA documentation packages based on customer and industry requirements and best practices.
Its business process management applications include corrective action/preventive action, audit, change control, deviation, complaint, and more. For the last two decades, the company has been involved in integrating content, processes, people, and systems into enterprise compliance programs that eliminate the cost and complexity associated with managing paper-based, disparate or legacy document management applications.
As part of an integrated solution, Accelrys said that applications such as the Accelrys Electronic Lab Notebook, Accelrys Laboratory Information Management System, Accelrys Lab Execution System, and Accelrys Discoverant for Operational Intelligence will function as data sources and integration points for the compliance and quality business systems that Qumas’ solutions manage.
“Integrating QUMAS solutions into the Accelrys product portfolio will provide a single-vendor [scientific innovation lifecycle management] solution that is already in high demand for product lifecycle management into the critical compliance and quality management arena for science-based process industries,” Accelrys President and CEO Max Carnecchia, said in a statement.
It also enables Qumas to extend its customer base in other business areas currently served by Accelrys, Qumas CEO Kevin O’Leary added.
Under the terms of the agreement, in consideration for acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Qumas, Accelrys agreed to pay to the company’s shareholders a total of approximately $50 million in cash, subject to working capital and other adjustments. The transaction is expected to be neutral to Accelrys’ non-GAAP earnings per share for the year ending Dec. 31, 2013, with a $1 million to $2 million non-GAAP revenue contribution.
Qumas had revenues of $15.2 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012.
This is Accelrys’ second acquisition for the year. In January, the company bought Vialis, a systems integration firm headquartered in Liestal, Switzerland, for up to $10 million.
In its most recent financial report, Accelrys posted a 1 percent bump in third quarter revenues for a total of $40.9 million for the three months ended Sept 30, compared to $40.5 million for the same period a year ago.
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Category Archives: Business and Markets
Illumina to Acquire NextBio, Integrate Firm into Enterprise Informatics Business
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NextBio, based in Santa Clara, Calif., provides platforms to aggregate and analyze large amounts of phenotypic and genomic data for research and clinical applications. It currently has customers at more than 50 commercial entities and academic institutions.
By acquiring the firm, Illumina “will be able to offer customers enterprise-level bioinformatics solutions that accelerate the discovery of new associations between the human genome and disease, and ultimately, enable the application of those discoveries within healthcare,” according to a company statement.
NextBio’s platform allows customers to compare experimental data against existing data sets using a correlation engine, enabling them to discover new associations. It uses “highly scalable” software-as-a-service enterprise technology and is capable of analyzing petabytes of data.
Illumina plans to combine its BaseSpace cloud computing environment for next-generation sequencing data with NextBio’s platform for integrating patient data.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of October. No financial terms were provided.
Illumina will integrate NextBio into its newly-formed Enterprise Informatics business and will retain NextBio’s co-founder Ilya Kupershmidt and Chief Technology Officer Satnam Alag.
Qiagen Acquires CLC Bio
Qiagen has acquired CLC Bio, a privately held bioinformatics software company headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark. The news was first reported on AllSeq’s blog.
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This is the second bioinformatics company that Qiagen has purchased this year. In May, it bought Ingenuity Systems for $105 million in cash to offer its life science and clinical customers a complete and integrated workflow for its PCR- and next-generation sequencing-based molecular testing solutions (BI 5/3/2013).
Qiagen has been making some interesting moves lately, slowly building an end to end sequencing solution. They’ve already established themselves as the market leaders in sample prep, but then they started acquiring the missing pieces. First they bought Intelligent BioSystems in June 2012, giving them access to a sequencing platform built with the clinical market in mind (fairly standard SBS chemistry, relatively fast runs and multiple flow cells to obviate the need for sample multiplexing). Then they acquired Ingenuity in April 2013, giving them another piece of the puzzle – the ‘genome interpretation’ part.
So they can isolate the DNA and RNA, they can prepare sequencing libraries (for Illumina and Ion Torrent, since their own ‘GeneReader’ isn’t out yet) and they can perform variant analysis on the data. The piece they’re still missing is the data analysis part (which generates the variant list that feeds into Ingenuity’s Variant Analysis™ program). So…
We’ve been hearing a couple of rumors that maybe they plugged that gap, specifically through the acquisition of CLC bio. We couldn’t find anything about this on the web, so we decided to just ask. We called up a couple of people at CLC bio and, after a little bit of “Er, um, why do you want to know?”, we got the official confirmation – CLC bio was acquired by Qiagen! They wouldn’t confirm exactly when this happened (probably sometime this summer) or for how much (for reference, Ingenuity was acquired for $105M). [Edit – CLC bio has made it clear that they will continue to support all major sequencing platforms in the future.]
We’re not sure why they aren’t talking about this more as it seems like a pretty big deal to us – Qiagen is rapidly building the end to end solution that no one other company seems to have. Illumina currently has a stranglehold on the high throughput market and controls at least half of the desktop market (with Ion Torrent picking up the other half). Is Qiagen’s ‘one stop shop’ solution going to be the key to shaking up the leaders? We’re not sure, but we can’t wait to find out!
The Layoffs Continue…
PerkinElmer Reduces Headcount by More than 400 in 2012
PerkinElmer reduced its workforce by 62 employees during the first quarter as part of a restructuring plan,var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-2697320-3”); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview();
PerkinElmer Lays off 265 in Second Quarter
PerkinElmer laid off 265 employees during the second quarter, the company said in its Form 10-Q today.
In the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it said that the reduction in workforce was part of a restructuring plan to move some of its operations into a newly established shared service center and to realign operations, R&D resources, and production resources as a result of previous acquisitions.
During the company’s recent second quarter earnings conference call, PerkinElmer Chairman and CEO Robert Friel said that the firm had consolidated three North American facilities, “and efforts are underway to consolidate two additional legacy Caliper sites, further simplifying our operational footprint and improving our R&D efficiency.”
All 265 employees being laid off were notified by June 30.
The restructuring resulted in a charge of $9.9 million pre-tax charge recognized by PerkinElmer during the second quarter in its Human Health segment, and an $8.8 million pre-tax charge recognized in its Environmental Health segment.
It said that it anticipates recognizing an additional $600,000 in incremental restructuring expenses in the future, resulting from one-time termination benefits.
The layoffs in the second quarter, during which PerkinElmer said revenues rose 4 percent year over year, come on top of 62 layoffs in the first quarter. In 2012, it cut its headcount by 437.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company has about 7,500 employees worldwide.
In the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it said that the reduction in workforce was part of a restructuring plan to move some of its operations into a newly established shared service center and to realign operations, R&D resources, and production resources as a result of previous acquisitions.
During the company’s recent second quarter earnings conference call, PerkinElmer Chairman and CEO Robert Friel said that the firm had consolidated three North American facilities, “and efforts are underway to consolidate two additional legacy Caliper sites, further simplifying our operational footprint and improving our R&D efficiency.”
All 265 employees being laid off were notified by June 30.
The restructuring resulted in a charge of $9.9 million pre-tax charge recognized by PerkinElmer during the second quarter in its Human Health segment, and an $8.8 million pre-tax charge recognized in its Environmental Health segment.
It said that it anticipates recognizing an additional $600,000 in incremental restructuring expenses in the future, resulting from one-time termination benefits.
The layoffs in the second quarter, during which PerkinElmer said revenues rose 4 percent year over year, come on top of 62 layoffs in the first quarter. In 2012, it cut its headcount by 437.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company has about 7,500 employees worldwide.
Qiagen Buys Ingenuity to Provide Software Complement to Molecular Testing Solutions
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Qiagen said this week that it acquired Ingenuity Systems for $105 million in cash in order to offer its life science and clinical customers a complete and integrated workflow for its PCR- and next-generation sequencing-based molecular testing solutions — from sample preparation to data interpretation.
Under its new parent, Ingenuity will continue to operate out of its offices in Redwood City, Calif., and retain all 120 current employees, while CEO Jake Leschly takes on new responsibilities within Qiagen’s life science business unit.
Ingenuity will also continue to develop and offer products under its existing licensing scheme. Its portfolio includes a knowledgebase of curated genomic variants; Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, its web-based application for modeling and analyzing biological pathways; Ingenuity Variant Analysis, which selects clinically relevant genomic variants from NGS data (BI 1/13/2012); and Ingenuity iReport, its software for reporting the results of gene expression experiments from RNA-seq, microarray, and qPCR platforms.
Qiagen plans to incorporate content from Ingenuity’s knowledgebase into a curated database that it sells with wet lab assays offered through its GeneGlobe portal — which provides access to hundreds of PCR- and NGS-based assay panels for exploring pathways and diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and central nervous system disorders. In total, GeneGlobe offers more than 60,000 annotated molecular assays.
Also, Qiagen later this year plans to begin offering an integrated workflow that will provide its customers with kits for sample and library prep, target enrichment, and sequencing, as well as informatics support. Its software component will include solutions that are currently being developed with German software-development firm SAP for sequence read alignment and variant calling (BI 7/6/2012) and Ingenuity’s variant analysis and interpretation tools.
Do you wish to know more?
Bio Saga 2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.
The latest and the Complete Genomics Saga
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BGI-Shenzhen today said that it has extended its offer to acquire Complete Genomics for around $118 million until midnight New York City time on Dec. 14.
BGI’s tender offer to acquire all of the shares of Complete Genomics was previously scheduled to expire today. As of the close of business last night approximately 15.4 million shares of Complete Genomics’ common stock, or 44 percent of its outstanding shares, were tendered and not withdrawn.
The extension of the offer last night coincided with a letter Illumina sent to Complete Genomics’ board of directors urging them to reconsider Illumina’s offer to acquire the firm for around $123 million. Earlier this week Illumina confirmed that it had made an unsolicited offer of $3.30 per share to acquire Complete Genomics. That offer is 5 percent higher than the price agreed between BGI and Complete Genomics.
Complete Genomics turned down Illumina’s offer saying that it would likely be turned down by regulators and didn’t constitute a superior offer.
Do you wish to know more?
Complete Genomics Saga extended story
- Illumina Confirms Unsolicited Bid for Complete Genomics
- Complete Genomics Warns of Potentially Dire Circumstances if BGI Buy Falls Through
- FTC Wants More Information About BGI-Shenzhen Buy of Complete Genomics
- Complete Genomics Turns Down Competing Acquisition Offer Citing Antitrust Worries
- BGI Extends Offer to Acquire Complete Genomics
Accelrys Adds Another Scientific Software Company to Its Portfolio
Courtesy Xconomy
After merging with Symyx Technologies in 2010, acquiring Contur Sofware in 2011, and buying VelQuest earlier this year, San Diego scientific software developer Accelrys says today it is buying Aegis Analytical.
Accelrys is paying $30 million in cash for Aegis, a company based in Lafayette, CO, (near Boulder) that makes software used to monitor biotech product development and manufacturing processes. In a statement today, Accelrys says the deal helps to further expand its suite of software used to manage the life cycle of innovation among pharmaceutical companies and in other industries.
Aegis has about 40 full-time and contract employees, and “the idea is to keep the business in Boulder and fairly intact,” Accelrys CFO Michael Piraino told me during a phone interview earlier this afternoon. Aegis CEO Robert Di Scipio will stay with the merged company through the transition to new ownership.
About two-thirds of Accelrys’ customers are pharmaceutical and biotech companies, according to Piraino. The company also provides its software-as-a-service to customers specializing in oil & gas development, cleantech, food and beverage, and other industries.The company’s statement quotes Accelrys CEO Max Carnecchia as saying, “The industries we serve are undergoing significant changes, requiring them to move from a status quo approach to one that breaks down the barriers to operational excellence, innovation productivity and global competitiveness.”
Accelrys says companies that operate in regulated environments are finding it difficult to manage complex manufacturing in real-time because they’re relying on paper notebooks and other outmoded tools to monitor R&D, quality assurance, and other industrial processes.
Accelrys says addressing such problems requires a global and holistic approach that enables businesses to predict, prevent, and solve problems throughout product development, quality control, and manufacturing process. Accelrys says that without the kind of cloud-based software it provides, companies risk compromising the quality of their products, falling out of regulatory compliance, slowing operations and increasing commercialization costs. Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com
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ISS Sides With Illumina, Recommends Rejecting Roche
This is getting interesting every day! I love this Idea! sell a company but before selling it split or spin off as another company with a future technology (Illumina). After a few years again sell or get acquired!
Citing vast future potential, ISS has sided with Illumina in the gene-sequencing company’s fight to hold off a hostile bid from Roche Holding.
The proxy advisor says shareholders should vote the Illumina board back into service, and reject Roche’s slate because the offer probably undervalues the future of Illumina.
Roche last week raised its offer for Illumina to $51 a share from $44.50, and called it fair and full. But Illumina shares immediately went above $51, and some in the market have pointed to $60 as the number to get the deal done.
Illumina rejected the offer, citing a report that compared the company to Apple and Illumina’s products to iPads. The company has argued that Roche’s bid came just after Illumina’s own shares had cratered on a bad quarter and that the Swiss drug giant was making an opportunistic bid to get the future of medicine on the cheap.
ISS agrees with that assessment. In a report, the advisor questions Roche’s use of a valuation tied to Illumina’s earnings, even as Roche calls it a historically high offer.
“As healthy as the current business and cash flows are, no one— Roche or public market investors—is interested in buying Illumina for its earning potential in the next twelve months, or on the strength of its earnings history over the last twelve months,” ISS writes.
ISS also applauded the actions of Illumina’s board, saying it had properly resisted the bid. The report says Illumina’s move to speed up the annual meeting for a shareholder vote “suggest confidence in the integrity” of its own positions.
The annual meeting vote is in two weeks, meaning there is still time for more letters and enthusiastic comments before this comes to a boil. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-2697320-3”); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview();
Elsevier Acquires Ariadne Genomics
Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announced today the acquisition of the business assets of Ariadne Genomics, a provider of pathway analysis tools and semantic technologies for life science researchers. Ariadne will be integrated with Elsevier’s Corporate Markets division.
“Ariadne Genomics’ pathway analysis tools and semantic technologies integrate research findings from across multiple content sources providing a deeper understanding of biological pathways and disease progression. Ariadne’s products improve research productivity and outcomes for life science researchers by delivering new insights for potential interventions, therapies and cures,” said Alexander van Boetzelaer, Managing Director of Elsevier Corporate Markets. “Ariadne brings to Elsevier an information offering in the biology domain and a passionate and dedicated team of life science professionals. Ariadne’s team and offerings are a powerful complement to our chemistry, pre-clinical and clinical workflow solutions.”
Ariadne’s flagship product Pathway Studio is widely used by pharmaceutical, agriculture and academic institutions to provide analyses of molecular pathways and disease progression. Pathway Studio is an integrated data mining and visualization solution that organizes relevant facts and relationships from large document collections of genes, proteins, cell processes and diseases. The tool, powered by Ariadne’s MedScan® technology, enables visualization of biological relationships spanning biomedical literature and supports the interpretation of experimental results utilizing domain-specific ontologies, taxonomies and dictionaries.
“As a customer of both providers, I am excited to learn that Ariadne Genomics and Elsevier have joined,” said Dr. Jonathan Usuka, Director of Global Business Planning at Celgene, a multinational biopharmaceutical company. “Pathway Studio provides essential support to our immunological studies. As part of Elsevier, there is the potential to deliver even more value to our researchers.”
Ariadne’s CEO, Ilya Mazo, said of the acquisition, “With our integration into Elsevier, we look forward to strengthening our ability to serve biological researchers in scientific communities through further development of Pathway Studio, fortified with Elsevier’s content, and complementing Elsevier’s leadership role across biomedical disciplines.”
Ariadne is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. Financial details of the acquisition are not being disclosed.
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Bio Saga 