Cambridge life science business Innova Biosciences has been acquired by German-headquartered SYGNIS AG for €8 million in cash and €3.5m in shares. Innova CEO and CSO Dr Nick Gee becomes chief technical officer of SYGNIS, which has bases in Europe, the US and Asia.

The UK company is a specialist provider of bioconjugation products and services. Its range of antibody and protein labelling products and services is said to complement SYGNIS’ customer base and existing genomics and proteomics portfolio. SYGNIS’ international presence provides Innova Biosciences with the opportunity to expand even further within its already fast growing markets.

Dr. Heikki Lanckriet, CEO and CSO of SYGNIS, said: “Innova is a natural fit with the SYGNIS Group. Its cutting-edge labelling technology, market knowledge, innovation and creativity is highly complementary and will add significant value to the SYGNIS Group and its customers.

“Labelling is a central application at several stages in both proteomics and genomics workflow hence the Innova product portfolio fits perfectly with our customer base.”

Nick Gee (pictured) added: “SYGNIS offers a great platform to grow our business internationally and will give us access to new target audiences and markets.

“SYGNIS and Innova technologies are highly complementary, and can be sold through the same sales channels.

“We were particularly attracted by the sales reach of SYGNIS, which will enable us to grow our business even more quickly. The proximity of our locations here in Cambridge also makes achieving synergies readily attainable.”

With the 2016 acquisition of Expedeon Holdings in the UK, SYGNIS added a complementary proteomics product portfolio. Resulting from this significant expansion, SYGNIS’ product portfolio now covers the entire workflow of molecular biology.

SYGNIS also acquired the profitable US-based life sciences tools company C.B.S. Scientific in December 2016 to further expand its product offering. SYGNIS products are sold through a direct sales force and several distribution partners in Europe, the US and Asia. SYGNIS AG has offices in Germany, Spain and the UK, production sites in the UK and the US as well as sales offices in Asia.