LONDON: Abcam Plc has announced the asset purchase of the gene editing platform and oncology product portfolio of Applied StemCell, Inc. (ASC) for life science research and diagnostic markets.

 As a global life sciences company, Abcam identifies, develops, and distributes high-quality biological reagents and tools that are crucial to research, drug discovery and diagnostics.

Over the last eleven years ASC has established a global reputation for solving the most difficult knock-out and knock-in cell line development challenges.

They have successful deployed their proprietary cell editing platform to create cell lines for a broad range of diseases to support the life science and diagnostics industries as well as to advance therapeutic drug discovery.

The transaction includes a portfolio of cell lines and the well-regarded AccuRef reference materials product line (www.accuref.com).

Abcam intends to expand the ASC platform to become its discovery engine for developing novel edited cell lines, building upon the portfolio of knock-out (KO) cell lines acquired through the Edigene transaction in 2019.

Ready-made KO cell lines play a significant role in the study and understanding of biological pathways and disease models. The portfolio and cell engineering capability will also be deployed to further support Abcam’s KO validation initiative, an integral part of the Group’s ongoing antibody quality initiative.

Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and are expected to have a minimal impact on revenue and earnings in the current financial year.

Commenting on the acquisition, Cheri Walker, SVP of Corporate Development at Abcam, said: “This transaction expands and cements Abcam’s position in the edited cell line market, bringing in one of the most widely deployed and technically successful cell engineering platforms into Abcam.  The cell line market is in the early stages of development as a research tool, where the ready provision of more choice, with the right gene targets in the right cell lines, will allow the market to rapidly expand.”

Ruby Tsai, Co-founder and CSO of ASC, commented: “Following our strategic decision to focus on stem cell and derivative service and products for both research and therapeutic applications, we are pleased to be transitioning our oncology focused services and products to the global team at Abcam. As recognized industry leaders in the provision of biologic reagents and tools, Abcam is ideally placed to provide expert support to our global user-base.”

Edited by Nayyar Iqbal