INTEGRA Biosciences acquires start-up Miroculus to accelerate genomics

20-Mar-2023 - Switzerland

INTEGRA Biosciences announced that it has acquired Miroculus, a biotechnology specialist focused on developing hands-off automation solutions for next generation sequencing (NGS) protocols. This will allow INTEGRA to expand its product range for library preparation, offering significant time savings to academic, research and diagnostics laboratories using NGS and, ultimately, accelerating discovery in this dynamic field.

Miroculus is based in San Francisco, California, and was founded to develop innovative and intuitive tools that simplify complex genomics protocols, making them accessible to a wider range of scientists. Urs Hartmann, CEO of INTEGRA, said: “We have acquired this promising start-up because we recognize the huge potential of its revolutionary digital microfluidics technology for automating and miniaturizing genomics protocols. Miroculus’ proprietary platform delivers assay flexibility and automation capacity, which enables seamless workflow integration, streamlining the experimental process and empowering researchers to translate their discoveries into practical solutions that will improve people’s lives.”

INTEGRA acquired Miroculus in order to better serve the growing NGS market with novel and precise solutions for applications such as automating long-read sequencing and target enrichment protocols. The acquisition also ensures ongoing company growth and safeguards staff; high priorities for both companies. Urs continued: “Miroculus’ vision and product range complement our own innovative solutions for sample and library preparation, making it the perfect fit for our company as we seek to establish a competitive edge in the genomics sector. We're very much looking forward to welcoming the Miroculus team into the INTEGRA family, and we’ll no doubt benefit from their expertise and wealth of knowledge surrounding NGS. We are confident that our combined talents will allow us to accelerate and simplify science together, and we anticipate the launch of many exciting projects in the near future, with the aim of advancing discoveries in the crucial area of genomics.”

Alejandro Tocigl, Co-Founder and CEO of Miroculus, added: “We began Miroculus with the mission to advance science and improve lives faster, and the last year has been significant for us as we’ve worked toward this goal. Most notably, we launched the Miro Canvas^™ system, which is a compact and easy-to-use digital microfluidics platform that fully automates NGS sample preparation protocols and makes them accessible to scientists everywhere. We are extremely excited to now be a part of INTEGRA and to continue our shared culture of innovation for the scientific community.”

https://www.analytica-world.com/en/news/1179872/integra-biosciences-acquires-start-up-miroculus-to-accelerate-genomics.html