HOPKINTON, Mass.—Caliper Life Sciences Inc. on Dec. 14announced the sale of Xenogen Biosciences Corp., a subsidiary that provides invivo, preclinical CRO services, to rodentprovider Taconic Farms Inc. for approximately $11 million.
Caliper also announced that Taconic will become thedistributor of Caliper's Light Producing Transgenic Animal (LPTA) models andobtain non-exclusive rights to perform imaging services under Caliper's patentestate in this field. In addition, Taconic will be able to create new mousemodels for in vivo imaging applicationsfor use by customers in IVIS instruments, which is expected to stimulatefurther demand in the fast-growing field of optical imaging.
Caliper said the transaction strengthens its IVIS imagingtools business and represents its continuing efforts to divest non-core assetsin order to further enhance its focus on core products, applications andservices. Caliper also said the sale of XenBio will significantly improve itscash position in 2010 but will have minimal impact to the company's bottom-lineperformance.
"This sale further improves our balance sheet and willenable us to drive greater investment in our IVIS imaging business," said KevinHrusovsky, president and CEO of Caliper, in a statement. "At the same time,through the remainder of our CDAS (formerly NovaScreen) business unit, we areable to consolidate our strategic preclinical CRO services in a single locationand maintain our ability to offer services that are supportive of Calipers coretechnologies."
According to a statement issued by Caliper, approximately 90percent of XenBio's business relates to animal production and phenotypingservices. XenBio was acquired by Caliper as part of the company's acquisitionof Xenogen Corp. in 2006.
Founded in 1952 as a family-owned business in New YorksHudson River Valley, Taconic is one of the world's largest laboratory rodentproviders with expertise in the custom design and generation of geneticallymodified mice, mouse and rat breeding, barrier systems, genetics and animalhealth. Taconic has six breeding facilities and three service laboratories inthe United States and Europe and a staff of more than 1,000. Under itsagreement with Caliper, Taconic will also gain a viviarium that is part of a50,000 square-foot facility in Cranbury, N.J.
"The acquisition is a strong fit for both organizations—technologically,operationally and philosophically," said Stephen McAndrew, vice president ofbusiness development for Xenogen Biosciences. "Each company brings considerablescientific expertise, advanced technology, and world-class facilities to therelationship. And each company is committed to long-term, collaborativepartnerships with leading organizations in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academicand government sectors."