Molecular Devices Buys Arcturus Unit

Molecular Devices Corp. announced Wednesday it has acquired the laser capture microdissection (LCM)-related business of Arcturus Bioscience Inc. of Mountain View for $10 million in cash.

Molecular Devices said the move will expand its portfolio to include complete systems and reagents for LCM, a sample-preparation technology for genomic and protein analysis.

Under the terms of the transaction, Molecular Devices hired 42 former Arcturus employees that were associated with the LCM business. All of the Arcturus LCM operations and employees will immediately move to it headquarters in Sunnyvale. Molecular Devices did not obtain any Arcturus facilities in connection with the transaction.

Arcturus, founded in 1996, developed an LCM platform for genetic analysis of biopsy samples and has applied it to discover cell-specific gene signatures associated with human diseases such as cancer. The selective capture of specific cells through LCM allows researchers to use the smallest and purest cellular samples for RNA, DNA or protein analysis.

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