Hopkinton, Mass.-based lab equipment and services provider Caliper Life Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:CALP) sold a pair of of its product lines to Biotage AB.
The Swedish company acquired Caliper’s RapidTrace and TurboVap lines for $16.5 million in cash and the assumption of $500,000 in debt. The companies expect the deal to close by May 28.
Biotage said it hopes to bring up to eight Caliper employees who worked with the product lines into its workforce.
Caliper said the sale will enable it to grow its bio-molecular sample preparation and imaging and analysis businesses. The company will continue to manufacture the products for Biotage under a three-year supply arrangement. Caliper also said Biotage could be a future distribution and manufacturing partner.
Caliper last week received good news from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which funded the company with an additional $2.9 million for the its ToxCast screening program. The project is aimed at increasing the testing efficiency of potentially toxic chemicals. Including a March 2009 order, Caliper has brought in $4.7 million worth of business from the program since 2007.
First-quarter sales were flat for Caliper, but it cut its Q1 net losses by two-thirds and raised its low-end revenue guidance for 2010. Excluding revenues from the AutoTrace product line Caliper sold off in November 2008 and the Xenogen Biosciences Corp. subsidiary it ditched in December 2009, the company grew sales 13 percent compared to Q1 2009.