羅氏收購AriosaDiagnostics立足無創產前篩查市場

　　北京時間2014年12月2日，羅氏宣布將要收購無創產前篩查技術的提供商Ariosa公司。收購價格暫未公布，預計收購將于本月完成。

　　Ariosa提供的Harmony產前測試，是一種血液測試21、18 和13三染色體性風險，以及從胎兒循環中測性染色體異常和從懷孕10周起測試孕婦無細胞DNA。不同于其他NIPT測試，這種分析總DNA的Harmony測試采用有針對性的著重感興趣的染色體。

　　羅氏首席運營官（COO）Roland Diggelmann提到，并購Ariosa是羅氏致力于先進分子診斷技術的又一實例，循環游離DNA技術能夠在很多重要的診斷中提供診斷信息，例如懷孕、癌癥和器官移植。

　　Ariosa于2012年開始Harmony產前檢測技術實驗，至2014年5月，該公司已經在全球超過90個國家執行了225,000次檢測。

　　雖然目前實驗是基于競爭對手Illumina提供的基因測序技術，但是Ariosa公司說他們近期開發出的一種基于微陣列的方法也可以用于實驗，并且在早前已經跟Affymetrix公司簽訂了一份長期的合作協議。

　　在2012年初，Ariosa公司在C輪融資中獲得了5270萬美元融資，投資方包括Venrock, Domain Associates, Meritech Capital Partners以及一個沒有披露名稱的共同基金。

　　Ariosa目前與Sequenom、Illumina公司存在大量的ZL侵權訴訟。

Roche to Acquire Ariosa Diagnostics to Gain Foothold in NIPT, Cell-free DNA Testing Markets

　　NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Roche will acquire non-invasive prenatal testing provider Ariosa Diagnostics of San Jose, Calif.

　　The purchase price was not immediately available, and the acquisition is expected to close this month.

　　Ariosa offers the Harmony Prenatal Test, a blood test that gauges the risk of trisomies 21, 18, and 13 as well as sex chromosome abnormalities from circulating fetal and maternal cell-free DNA starting at 10 weeks of pregnancy. Unlike some other NIPT that analyze total DNA, the Harmony test uses a targeted approach that focuses on DNA from the chromosomes of interest.

　　"The acquisition of Ariosa is another example of Roche's commitment to advanced molecular diagnostics," said Roland Diggelmann, COO of Roche Diagnostics, in a statement. He added that circulating cell-free DNA promises to provide diagnostic information "in many important segments," including pregnancy, cancer, and transplantation.

　　Ariosa launched the Harmony test, which is performed in its CLIA laboratory, in 2012, marketing it through LabCorp's Integrated Genetics business in the US and Canada. As of May 2014, the company had conducted 225,000 Harmony tests worldwide and was offering it in more than 90 countries.

　　The test currently runs on sequencing technology from competitor Illumina, but Ariosa said recently that it has developed a microarray-based method to carry out the test and struck a multi-year supply agreement with Affymetrix for arrays and instruments this fall.

　　The company was founded as Tandem Diagnostics before it changed its name to Aria Diagnostics, then Ariosa Diagnostics.

　　In early 2012, the firm raised $52.7 million in a Series C financing round that included investors Venrock, Domain Associates, Meritech Capital Partners, and an undisclosed mutual fund group.

　　Ariosa is embroiled in a number of patent infringement lawsuits, including with Sequenom, Illumina, and Illumina's Verinata Health business.