Thermo Fisher Acquires Open Biosystems for RNAi Technology

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:TMO]]) said today it has acquired Open Biosystems, a maker of RNA interference products for research and development of new drugs. Thermo, based in Waltham, MA, didn’t disclose the purchase price, although it did say Huntsville, AL-based Open Biosystems had $14 million in revenues in 2007. Open Biosystems specializes in short-hairpin RNAs, and viral vector systems for delivering short-hairpin RNA molecules into cells, Thermo said.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.