Original from: Genomeweb

Qiagen said on Wednesday that it has acquired a 96 percent stake in Blirt, a Gdansk, Poland-based manufacturer of recombinant enzymes for the life science industry.

Blirt develops, makes, and commercializes standardized and customized enzymes, other proteins, and molecular biology reagents. In particular, Qiagen noted, some of its products are critical to the life science industry and manufacturers of diagnostic kits, especially for COVID-19.

"The addition of Blirt to Qiagen brings highly complementary capabilities that will create additional growth prospects for our enzymes and reagents business," Thomas Schweins, senior VP and head of Qiagen's Life Sciences business area, said in a statement. "Blirt will also widen our geographic presence, add new sales channels, strengthen our production and R&D capacities, and safeguard our supply chains."

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Qiagen said it intends to obtain full ownership of Blirt by the second quarter of 2022. The acquisition will not have any material impact on Qiagen's financial outlook for 2022.

Blirt was founded in Gdansk in 1994, employs around 90 people, and generated 2021 sales of less than $10 million, Qiagen said.

Source: Qiagen Acquires Majority Stake in Enzyme Provider Blirt