Roche announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GeneWEAVE BioSciences, Inc. (GeneWEAVE), a privately held company focused on innovative, clinical microbiology diagnostics solutions based in Los Gatos, CA, USA. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay GeneWEAVE shareholders USD 190 million upfront and up to USD 235 million in contingent product related milestones. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and, once closed, GeneWEAVE will be integrated into Roche Molecular Diagnostics.
The acquisition provides Roche with GeneWEAVE’s Smarticles technology, an innovative class of molecular diagnostics that quickly identifies multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and assesses antibiotic susceptibility directly from clinical samples, without the need for traditional enrichment, culture or sample preparation processes. GeneWEAVE’s first system in development is the vivoDx—a fully automated, random-access system designed to meet the needs of laboratories addressing MDRO detection and antibiotic therapy guidance. The technology is currently being evaluated in multiple sites across the U.S.
GeneWEAVE, Inc., based in Los Gatos, Calif., is a privately-held in vitro diagnostics company that is advancing clinical microbiology with diagnostic solutions to aid healthcare providers in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria by enabling impactful surveillance programs, early therapy guidance and successful antibiotic stewardship. The company’s innovative and proprietary Smarticles technology harnesses the power of biology to rapidly detect drug resistance and measure susceptibility information without the need for enrichment, culture, or sample preparation.
