GE Healthcare to Acquire PAA Laboratories GmbH, Broadening Capabilities in Growing Biopharmaceutical Manufacture Segment; Terms Not Disclosed

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company GE, today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire PAA Laboratories, a developer and supplier of cell culture media for biomedical research and the fast-growing biopharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing industry. The acquisition of PAA Laboratories will allow GE Healthcare to expand its offering of products and services for cell biology research and for the discovery and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals including recombinant proteins, antibodies and vaccines. The strong strategic fit between the two businesses, combined with expanded capabilities in product development and marketing, will offer significant long-term customer benefits. Financial terms were not disclosed. PAA Laboratories develops and manufactures specialized and innovative cell culture products such as media, sera, growth supplements and reagents for use in biomedical research and in the production of protein-based pharmaceuticals. The company, which has world-class manufacturing facilities registered with the FDA, has recently implemented one of the world's leading manufacturing facilities for powdered cell culture media to meet the growing demand for these products from the biopharmaceutical industry. PAA Laboratories' products are complementary to GE Healthcare's established technologies for cell biology research and biopharmaceutical purification. Combining the expertise of the two companies will enable GE Healthcare to offer a substantially wider range of integrated products and services to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry.