Lonza acquires Amaxa

This story from GenomeWeb Daily News was a bit of a shocker:

Lonza Acquires Transfection Systems Maker Amaxa

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Swiss firm Lonza said today that it has acquired cell research products firm amaxa for an undisclosed sum.

Lonza expects the acquisition to strengthen the cell discovery business of its Lonza Bioscience division, which supplies primary cells and serves a similar customer base to that of amaxa. Cologne, Germany-based amaxa’s Nucleofection technology is used to transfer DNA or RNA into cells that are considered difficult to transfect.

Lonza said that the acquisition will enhance the profit margins and growth rates for Lonza Bioscience. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed early in the third quarter of this year.

I have been doing some work with both of these companies over the past couple months and didn’t see this coming. Seems like a good move for Lonza, although I am not sure what this means for the good people at Amaxa. We were working with my stem cells as a model for their nucleofection system