Invitrogen Acquires Sequitur

Invitrogen has acquired Sequitur, a privately held corporation based in Natick, MA, with a leading technology for RNA interference (RNAi.).

RNAi is used in life science research, and may hold promise as a therapeutic, as it offers a simple method to silence the expression of a gene involved in a biological pathway. Financial terms were not disclosed.

'Sequitur adds to our growing RNAi platform,' said Invitrogen senior vice president, r&d, Claude Benchimol. 'The Stealth technology uses proprietary chemically-modified synthetic RNAi molecules that perform better than conventional short-interfering RNA (siRNA).

When combined with Invitrogen's market-leading Lipofectamine reagents, researchers can create the most stable, synthetic RNAi and deliver it effectively into cells for research or therapeutics.'

RNAi has rapidly become one of the most practiced techniques in drug discovery. Using short-interfering RNA, scientists can essentially turn a gene 'off' to better understand its function and its role in disease. Sequitur's Stealth RNAi technology is a next-generation synthetic RNAi that is superior to traditional siRNA in several respects. First, it has been shown to be more specific for the target gene of study, which is vital whether used for research or ultimately as a therapeutic.

Also, it is more stable in both cell culture and living organisms resulting in increased performance, efficiency and cost savings. Finally, Stealth has been proven less toxic to cells overall. Therefore, it avoids some of the complexities of traditional siRNA, such as the complete shutdown of cellular activity, making it a better potential therapeutic agent.

'The combination of our proprietary Stealth RNAi, seven years of experience in RNA targeting technology and Invitrogen's drug discovery solutions creates the most powerful, comprehensive RNAi platform available,' explained

Dr Tod Woolf, founder and president of Sequitur. 'In addition, Invitrogen's worldwide sales, marketing and distribution channels will make this total solution increasingly available to researchers worldwide.'

The acquisition also strengthens Invitrogen's services offering. Sequitur uses its Stealth RNAi to provide target discovery and validation services and has collaborative agreements with many of the top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

'The acquisition of Sequitur Inc. is a part of our comprehensive strategy enabling Invitrogen to become the essential partner in drug discovery and disease research,' said Invitrogen's president and CEO Gregory T Lucier. 'With its patent position, we believe Sequitur's technology will prevail as the standard method for how researchers perform RNAi. By combining the best technologies, industry expertise and strong relationships, Invitrogen is creating a powerful RNAi platform that will enable research, accelerate discovery, and improve the human condition.'