Roche Diagnostics and ATCC agree cell lines deal

Roche Diagnostics has agreed to combine its resources with those of ATCC, an American company that manufactures cell lines, to further the development of life sciences research.

Under the agreement, ATCC will provide cell lines to Roche Diagnostics, which will be tested using Roche Applied Science’s transfection reagents.

Transfection is the introduction of foreign DNA into a host cell. It is a process used extensively by researchers in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. So far, Roche Diagnostics has said that several hundred ATCC cell lines have been transfected with the help of transfection reagents, with a database of the cell lines uploaded onto the internet for easy indexing.

Lonnie Shoff, senior vice president of Roche Applied Science, explained: “Combining the strengths of our organizations through this agreement creates a powerful offering for life sciences research.”

“Scientists across the research spectrum – academia, biotech companies, disease research pharmaceuticals, government, and private institutions – will have the ability to link a transfection protocol, peer-reviewed publications and results information to an ATCC cell line of interest.”

Michael Gove, vice president of marketing and sales at ATCC, said scientists would be able to reach their research goals faster thanks to the new collaboration.

Roche Diagnostics employs 350 staff in the UK, where it has a turnover of 170 million pounds.

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