Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, have announced that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Sysmex Corporation (Sysmex), a Japanese in vitro diagnostic company.

Sysmex will acquire all of OGT’s shares, gaining access to OGT’s genetic analysis technologies and expertise in the cytogenetics domain. OGT will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sysmex. Further terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

Sysmex develops, produces and sells integrated instruments, reagents and software used in in vitro diagnostics and is the leading supplier globally in haematology, haemostasis and urinanalysis. The acquisition of OGT will allow Sysmex to enter the cytogenetics market with FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridisation) and aCGH (array comparative genomic hybridisation) products. It will also strengthen its technology base in molecular genetics through OGT’s NGS (next generation sequencing) reagent development capabilities. The acquisition of OGT expands Sysmex’s life science business and reinforces its initiatives towards personalised medicine.

For the year ended 30 September 2016 OGT recorded sales of £19.7m primarily from its fully integrated molecular genetics product portfolio of Cytocell^® FISH probes, SureSeq™ NGS products and CytoSure™ microarray products that together grew by 30% in FY16. The sustained profitable growth in rapidly expanding markets along with OGT’s strong heritage in hybridisation-based technologies positions it well for the future in the field of molecular medicine and the acquisition by Sysmex serves to further strengthen this position.

Professor Sir Edwin Southern, founder of OGT comments “We are delighted to become part of such a well-regarded organisation and truly believe that the opportunities arising from joining a large global corporation like Sysmex will be transformational for OGT, its employees and customers”.

Several product development synergies have been identified that combine OGT’s innovation and expertise in genetic assays for haematology, solid cancer and rare disease with Sysmex’s expertise in instrument development and in vitro diagnostics to expand offerings in genomic medicine. For example, R&D teams from OGT and Sysmex will collaborate to develop an automated system for FISH testing by combining Sysmex’s automation technology with the high-quality FISH reagent development expertise OGT possesses.

In addition, adding OGT’s array CGH and NGS capabilities will expand opportunities further in genetic testing in the field of rare diseases and liquid biopsies.

OGT’s CEO Dr Mike Evans adds, “Alongside the exciting product development opportunities already identified, there are a number of beneficial commercial synergies that will expand market access for OGT’s products putting us at the forefront of molecular genetics. We are looking forward to the next chapter in our development as part of Sysmex”.

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