Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Roche's $154.9M bet on 454's pyrosequencing technology was overtaken by Illumina within a few years and the subsidiary was fully shut down by 2013 — a textbook technology-obsolescence failure.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →CuraGen announced definitive agreement to sell its 454 Life Sciences subsidiary to Roche; deal expected to close in Q2 2007 and provided CuraGen with capital…
Roche acquires 454 Life Sciences to strengthen presence in ultra-fast gene sequencing, securing future generations of sequencing products and integrating the…
Six years after acquisition, Roche quietly shutters 454, as the once-pioneering pyrosequencing platform was outcompeted by rivals like Illumina, marking the…
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Roche acquired 454 Life Sciences from CuraGen for $154.9 million ($140 million in cash plus up to ~$15 million for outstanding stock options), entering the ultra-fast next-generation DNA sequencing market for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) applications. The acquisition integrated 454's Branford, Connecticut pyrosequencing operations into Roche Diagnostics. The platform ultimately proved uncompetitive against Illumina, and Roche shut down 454 in 2013, with production ceasing in 2016.
Roche's $154.9M bet on 454's pyrosequencing technology was overtaken by Illumina within a few years and the subsidiary was fully shut down by 2013 — a textbook technology-obsolescence failure.
Assessment window: 15yr post-close.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roche Holding AG / 454 Life Sciences Corp. (this deal) | 2007 | $155M | 14 |
| Roche Holding AG / Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. | 2002 | $1.4B | 100 |
| Roche Holding AG / Ventana Medical Systems Inc. | 2008 | $3.4B | 88 |
| Roche Holding AG / Corange Ltd. (Boehringer Mannheim Group) | 1997 | $11.0B | 88 |
| Roche Holding AG / Ventana Medical Systems Inc. | 2007 | $3.4B | 88 |
| Roche Holding AG / Foundation Medicine, Inc. | 2015 | $1.1B | 87 |
| Roche Holding AG / Foundation Medicine, Inc. | 2018 | $5.3B | 85 |
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More: 2007 deals · Roche Holding AG deals