Date: 2015-02-09
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Signature Diagnostics (Germany)
Acquiring company: Roche (Switzerland)
Amount: undisclosed
Terms: * On February 9, 2015, Roche announced the acquisition of Signature Diagnostics AG (Signature), a privately held company based in Potsdam, Germany. “Biobanks play an important role in uncovering the cause or origin of disease such as cancer which is important in translational research and the development of personalized therapies for patients,” said Roland Diggelmann, COO, Roche Diagnostics. “Signature represents a unique bridge between high value cancer biobanks and NGS assay development. Roche plans to leverage Signature’s expertise in both of these areas to accelerate the development of targeted NGS-based diagnostics in the future. Biobanks can also be used for biomarker discovery and hypothesis testing with Pharma.” Signature will be integrated into Roche Sequencing Unit and will continue to focus on expanding its innovative genomic signature portfolio.
Details: Signature Diagnostics is a translational oncology and genomics company based in Potsdam, Germany. Founded in 2004, Signature develops large tumor tissue and plasma biobanks in multiple cancers, including colorectal and lung cancer in the framework of large multicenter prospective clinical studies. A key aspect of the translational oncology work is Signature\'s biobanks with longitudinal plasma samples from cancer patients. The company also develops several next generation sequencing (NGS) assays using targeted gene panels. Signature has expertise in developing ultra-deep sequencing tests utilizing cfDNA, which may advance the development of non-invasive treatment response monitoring for cancer patients.
Related: Diagnostic Technology - Services
