San Diego-based diagnostic test maker Sequenom Inc. has shed its Bioscience segment. It has been acquired by Agena Bioscience Inc., a newly formed San Diego-based portfolio company of private equity firm Telegraph Hill Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sequenom’s (Nasdaq: SQNM) Bioscience business primarily develops a product called the MassArray System that includes lab equipment and chemicals for genotyping. Agena will enhance the system’s capabilities and work to expand its market, the company said.
A compliance team at Sequenom found that the MassArray System contains elements that originate from conflict minerals, Sequenom reported in a securities filing on May 30 — the same day it announced divesting that segment of the company. Portions of the system, which include cables, pumps and chips, could contain material sourced from regions that use the proceeds to fund armed conflict, the filing said.
