PerkinElmer purchases chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie

PerkinElmer has announced the acquisition of chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie, a specialist in automated nucleic acid isolation.

The German-based company was founded in 1997 and opened a US subsidiary in 2009, while it has also worked with PerkinElmer for several years to provide automated liquid-handling platforms with DNA preparation capabilities.

According to PerkinElmer, the takeover has been agreed as the firm looks to expand its presence in the molecular diagnostics and research sectors.

Dr Daniel Marshak, chief scientific officer and president of emerging diagnostics at PerkinElmer, said chemagen's hardware and reagent capabilities, including automated nucleic acid isolation technologies, offer numerous healthcare-related applications.

These include "large-scale pathogen detection in blood banking, human genetics applications such as HLA typing, autoimmune analysis and tissue rejection analysis".

Earlier this month, PerkinElmer launched a new infrared spectrometer called Spectrum Two, which offers a range of analytical uses for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors.