Roche has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kapa Biosystems, a privately held company based in Wilmington, Mass. Kapa Biosystems is a provider of genomic tools in the life sciences sector that employs proprietary technologies to optimize enzymes for next-generation sequencing (NGS), as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR applications.

Kapa’s proprietary protein engineering technology is customizable and allows for the generation and screening of large numbers of enzyme variants. Tailored enzymes with improved performance for specific applications can be rapidly selected, expediting product development timelines. Kapa’s portfolio of NGS reagents includes enzymes such as novel DNA polymerases, with the potential to improve the performance of the entire sequencing workflow.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.