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ARCHIMED acquires SeqCenter, a fast-growing player in cutting-edge DNA and RNA gene sequencing
November
8,
2024
SeqCenter is a category leader in Next-Generation Sequencing, which can sequence hundreds of thousands of genes in record-time and at low cost.
Global private equity healthcare specialist ARCHIMED announces the acquisition of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based genetic sequencing provider SeqCenter. SeqCenter’s founding scientists initially worked at the University of Pittsburgh. Frustrated with the pace, cost and difficulty of obtaining sequencing data from existing vendors and academic core laboratories, they developed their own approach to gene sequencing, ultimately leaving academia and founding SeqCenter in 2019.
Today, SeqCenter is a leading service provider of a recently developed technology, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) that’s used for mapping the DNA and RNA information that cells use to develop and operate. NGS sequences genes more rapidly, with greater reliability and at lower cost than traditional techniques. This makes it easier to develop new gene therapies, to discover new microbes, and even to improve crop yields, hence contributing to human and environmental health.
“SeqCenter is part of one of the most transformational developments in the world of life sciences today with the potential to be at the center of an ever-expanding scope of health applications,” says Vincent Guillaumot, Managing Partner at ARCHIMED.
ARCHIMED’s MedValue template, which is the firm’s playbook to accelerate the growth of partnering companies, will help drive SeqCenter’s internationalization in Europe and Asia and allow it to rapidly develop more advanced sequencing technologies. SeqCenter has an impressive record of high double-digit annual revenue and profit growth.
“We’re at an inflection point, and it’s clear that partnering with ARCHIMED – leveraging on its global reach and extensive network – will unlock significant value-creation opportunities to serve global clients and to source the most innovative technologies globally,” says Dan Snyder, Founder and CEO of SeqCenter. “Partnering with ARCHIMED will propel SeqCenter into its next phase of growth.” Snyder is rolling over a significant portion of his proceeds from the sale back into SeqCenter.
SeqCenter’s diverse client base includes academic institutions who require advanced sequencing technologies for groundbreaking research in genetics, biology, and medicine; industrial customers, including pre-clinical biotech, diagnostics, and food & agriculture players, who utilize genomic sequencing for drug development, personalized medicine, and crop improvement; and governmental health agencies and research bodies who seek robust sequencing services to support public health initiatives, disease surveillance, and large-scale genomic studies. SeqCenter positively contributes to patients’ outcomes, by improving healthcare safety, efficiency, efficacy and affordability.
Next Generation Sequencing is a sub-sector that ARCHIMED’s Diagnostics and Life Science Sector Teams identified as highly attractive. The company was sourced through ARCHIMED’s MedDiscover approach. MedDiscover is a set of tools, processes and systems permitting ARCHIMED to identify and approach leading companies operating in ARCHIMED’s prioritized sub-sectors.
“We’ll help SeqCenter internationalize faster and stay ahead of the competition with the further deployment of cutting-edge gene sequencing technologies.”
ARCHIMED partner, Vincent Guillaumot
ARCHIMED has acquired SeqCenter through its MED Rise fund, which closed last April on its hard cap (i.e. absolute maximum size) of €400 million after being three times oversubscribed. MED Rise is ARCHIMED’s small-cap fund dedicated to buyouts that are typically valued at €10 million to €30 million. The fund broadens ARCHIMED’s investment spectrum and allows the firm to invest from €10 million to €1 billion in its targeted sectors.
In terms of returns, ARCHIMED is ranked as the world’s 6th best performing Buyout firm in the latest Dow Jones-HEC ranking (out of 632 Buyout firms globally). ARCHIMED’s performance is particularly strong with regards to cash-to-cash returns, with a constant flow of liquidity events and distributions since inception, including in the last two years when most players struggled to provide liquidity.