U.K.-based GE Healthcare, a unit of GE, will acquire Xcellerex, a supplier of manufacturing technologies for the biopharmaceutical industry.

GE Healthcare said the acquisition will allow it to expand its offering of products and services for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals such as recombinant proteins, antibodies and vaccines. The strong strategic fit between the two companies, combined with expanded capabilities in product development and marketing, will offer significant customer benefits.

Xcellerex develops and produces turnkey biomanufacturing systems and production-scale bioreactors based around single-use components. The proprietary products offer faster installation, lower capital investment, reduced risk of cross-contamination and increased flexibility. Xcellerex’s FlexFactory is a complete custom-designed modular production platform based around single-use technologies that helps customers deploy manufacturing capacity more quickly.

“GE and Xcellerex share the vision that an integrated approach, where we can help customers optimize every stage of their manufacturing process, has the potential to increase production flexibility and deliver higher yields of finished product while reducing time to market,” said Dr. Nigel Darby, vice president of biotechnologies and chief technology officer of GE Healthcare Life Sciences. “With the global focus on spiraling health costs and the need for sustainable healthcare, these are critical issues for the industry.”

The acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012.

Xcellerex, based in Marlborough, Mass., has approximately 135 employees and had 2011 revenues of approximately $50 million.