Invitae to Acquire Singular Bio for $55 Million to Expand Early-Pregnancy Genetic Screening for Infant Diseases

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned from foreign media reports that genetic diagnostics company Invitae has reached an acquisition agreement with Singular Bio, a DNA single-molecule detection platform, to expand its early-prenatal genetic screening business for infant diseases.

Invitae previously stated that it would complete the acquisition with cash and stock totaling $55 million. In addition, Invitae will purchase up to $90 million worth of stock for Singular Bio employees who remain with Invitae post-acquisition. These equity proceeds are tied to future milestone achievements by Singular Bio.

Invitae’s stock price rose 3.8% on the news of the acquisition. The company stated that the deal is expected to close in the coming weeks.

Invitae, founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, is a publicly traded genetic diagnostics company. The company is dedicated to integrating genetic data into routine medical practice to enhance the quality of healthcare services.

Invitae focuses on genetic diagnosis of hereditary diseases, integrating various genetic tests into a single comprehensive diagnostic assay. Compared with most current single-gene diagnostic tests, this comprehensive approach offers superior diagnostic performance, higher efficiency, and lower costs. Invitae’s non-invasive prenatal genetic screening is available for just $99.

Invitae strives to build a global network for sharing genetic information by establishing secure and reliable genomic data management infrastructure, thereby advancing medical progress. By reducing the barriers for clinicians and patients to access diagnostic genetic information, the company has revolutionized genetic testing.

Singular Bio was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. The company is dedicated to providing advanced genetic testing to all individuals, thereby expanding access to essential medical information.

Singular Bio’s DNA testing technology enables single-molecule analysis of patient DNA, offering higher detection sensitivity compared to comprehensive analysis of entire DNA samples. The application of this technology in clinical medical screening tests has facilitated the early detection of many common diseases. This technology is currently still under development.

Achieving single-molecule detection is challenging, requiring high-performance microscopy and sophisticated molecular biology techniques. Conventional methods merely provide a bulk assessment of samples, aggregating information from millions of molecules into a single measurement with limited resolution. In contrast, DNA-based assays offer greater sensitivity for disease detection; the key breakthrough lies in enabling highly sensitive analysis within larger volumes of DNA samples.

Singular Bio’s proprietary single-molecule detection system combines advanced optical technologies with molecular biology and chemistry techniques to achieve exceptionally high sensitivity. The system is flexible and easy to use, offers variable data throughput, and can be deployed in testing laboratories of any scale.

In a research report, Puneet Souda, an analyst at SVB Leerink, stated that Invitae holds approximately 40% of the prenatal screening market share, a sector that remains largely underpenetrated and offers significant growth potential. Invitae can help Singular Bio reduce technology costs and expand its customer base to facilitate further development. Additionally, Singular Bio’s technology can be applied to other types of genetic testing, thereby further expanding Invitae’s business.

Invitae stated that the high cost of current prenatal screening has led most women to decline testing. The company expects to launch Singular Bio’s genetic testing services in the first half of 2021.

(Compiled by Tang Lulu)