Sequencing and genomic analysis company 10x Genomics has acquired its second in situ technology company in three months. The two acquisitions give 10x Genomics foundational intellectual property and key talent and expertise in in situ analysis, which allows scientists to measure large numbers of molecules directly in tissue by capturing the precise location of those molecules at subcellular resolution. The company announced in October it is buying ReadCoor for $350 million in cash and stock consideration. ReadCoor was spun out of George Church’s lab at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Its core technology, fluorescence in situ sequencing, enables sequencing of entire transcriptomes in immobilized cells, providing a three-dimensional display of cellular activity. In late August, 10x Genomics purchased Cartana for $41.2 million. Solna, Sweden-based Cartana’s in situ RNA analysis technology, developed by Mats Nilsson at Stockholm University’s Science For Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab), lets researchers analyze fresh or fixed frozen samples or formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples to rapidly create single-cell gene expression maps of up to hundreds of genes, resulting in high-specificity and high-throughput data.
10x Genomics expects the acquisitions to establish the foundation for a third technology platform to complement the company’s existing Chromium single-cell and Visium spatial genomics platforms. Visium is derived from Spatial Transcriptomics, another SciLifeLab spinout acquired by 10x Genomics in 2018. With the recent transactions, 10x Genomics has amassed 110 new patents and applications to add to its patent portfolio of over 825 issued patents and applications. “Both companies have made significant technical advances, which will serve as a powerful foundation for future product development at 10x,” said cofounder and CEO Serge Saxonov. “We look forward to joining forces to help our customers make amazing new discoveries to advance human health.”
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