UK regulators get tough on instrument merger

Abstract

Questions raised by UK regulators recently scuttled one scientific instrument merger and now may lead to trouble for another. The actions anticipate what may be a more active role for UK regulators overseeing international mergers after the UK leaves the European Union. In the most recent instance, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined that Illumina’s pending $1.2 billion purchase of DNA-sequencing-systems competitor Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) “could result in more expensive or lower quality products and less innovation in the market.” The CMA threatened to begin an in-depth investigation “if the merging businesses are unable to address the CMA’s concerns.”Both Illumina and PacBio supply instruments that scientists use during disease research and drug development to study genetic variations. Were the two to merge, customers would have “limited alternatives available” for advanced sequencing technology, the CMA says.In December, the CMA questioned another instrumentation deal: Therm...