Agilent Technologies to acquire Resolution Bioscience in $695m worth deal

Agilent Technologies, a US analytical instrumentation development and manufacturing company, has agreed to acquire Resolution Bioscience in a deal worth up to $695 million.

Resolution Bioscience is a next generation sequencing (NGS) technology company based in Kirkland, Washington. The company is engaged in developing NGS-based precision oncology solutions.

Agilent Technologies said that the deal complements and grows its capabilities in NGS-based cancer diagnostics. Besides it gives the company innovative technology for further catering to the requirements of the precision medicine market.

Resolution Bioscience has developed a non-invasive liquid biopsy assay platform, which supports the biopharma services market and also the clinical oncology diagnostic testing market.

Apart from that, the company’s homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) assay had secured breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The HRD assay is carried out on a standard blood sample and can detect actionable mutations in genes for the identification of cancer.

Agilent Technologies to acquire Resolution Bioscience in $695m worth deal. Photo courtesy of Tumisu from Pixabay.

In 2020, Resolution Bioscience forged a partnership with LabCorp to enable wider access to the Resolution ctDx Lung test that can detect actionable mutations in genes related to non-small cell lung cancer.

In the calendar year 2020, Resolution Bioscience had revenues of around $35 million.

Mike McMullen – Agilent Technologies president and CEO said: “By adding Resolution Bioscience’s liquid biopsy-based diagnostic technologies to our portfolio, we are strengthening Agilent’s offering to our biopharma customers and boosting the growth of our diagnostics and genomics business.

“This also accelerates our strategy to broaden access to precision oncology testing for patients worldwide through distributed NGS-based diagnostic kits. We look forward to Resolution Bioscience joining with us to expand our work in the fight against cancer.”

As per the terms of the deal, Agilent Technologies will pay $550 million in cash at the time of closing and up to a further $145 million, which will be contingent on the meeting of future performance milestones.

Mark Li – Resolution Bioscience president and CEO said: “Agilent’s broad expertise, global regulatory and commercial infrastructure, extensive partnerships with biopharma companies, and decades-long leadership in precision medicine will enhance and accelerate our groundbreaking work.

“We are excited to further expand the use of NGS in precision oncology for clinical diagnostics as part of the Agilent team.”

The deal, which is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, is expected to close next month.