Roche launches takeover bid for Illumina

Roche has launched a takeover bid for diagnostics firm Illumina as it seeks to strengthen its position in this field.

The pharmaceutical and life science company has proposed a deal worth $5.7 billion (3.63 billion pounds) to acquire all outstanding shares of Illumina, representing a 64 percent premium over Illumina's stock price on December 21st 2011.

Roche believes this deal offers good value and would see Roche combine Illumina with its applied science division, thus helping the company to better serve the growing global demand for genetic and genomic solutions.

It is expected that the combined capabilities of the two firms would help to increase the profile of DNA sequencing techniques, making them an integral part of biomarker discovery in future.

Severin Schwan, chief executive officer of Roche, said: "We remain willing to engage in a constructive dialogue with Illumina to jointly develop an optimal strategy for maximising the value of our combined business."

Earlier this month, Roche's pharmaceutical research and early development head Jean-Jacques Garaud stated in a Star-Ledger interview that biomarker-based personalised therapies represent a central pillar of the firm's future strategy.