Agilent and Merck to continue gene expression analysis solutions alliance

On May 11, Merck and Rosetta announced an agreement under which Merck will acquire Rosetta.

By Editor on May 17, 2001

On May 11, Merck and Rosetta announced an agreement under which Merck will acquire Rosetta. The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions, and the two companies expect to complete the acquisition in the third quarter of 2001.

Agilent is the exclusive distributor of the Rosetta Resolver Expression Data Analysis System, an enterprise-wide, gene-expression bioinformatics solution for researchers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agriculture markets. The Agilent/Rosetta alliance uses inkjet deposition technology. In addition, Rosetta is a major purchaser of Agilent DNA microarrays.

"We look forward to working with Merck on continuing development of the Rosetta Resolver System, a leading platform for bioinformatics research," said Bill Buffington, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Life Sciences Business Unit. "Our customer base continues to grow and Rosetta Resolver leads the industry in enterprise-scale performance. We also look forward to working with Merck on the enhancement of inkjet deposition technology and in servicing Merck as a customer of Agilent DNA microarrays."

"Merck is enthusiastic about the tools developed by Rosetta and our interaction with Agilent," said Bennett Shapiro, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Licensing and External Research, Merck Research Laboratories. "Our company will continue the activities related to the Rosetta Resolver business and the key inkjet array technology. Moreover, we look forward to obtaining DNA microarrays from Agilent and utilizing such technologies for drug discovery."

Following Merck's acquisition of Rosetta, Agilent (along with Rosetta) will continue to be the exclusive distributor of the Rosetta Resolver Expression Data Analysis System. Rosetta will be run as a wholly owned Merck subsidiary and will continue to operate under the name Rosetta Inpharmatics, Inc.