Abcam has entered the cell editing market through acquisition of the entire live cell line and lysates portfolio of EdiGene Inc, a company focused on developing genome editing technologies into novel therapeutics for a broad range of diseases and into creative solutions to advance drug discovery.

Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and are expected to have a minimal impact on revenue and earnings in the current financial year.

EdiGene has the industry’s largest off-the shelf diploid library of over 2,800 single clonal knockout (KO) cell lines, targeting over 2,600 genes in commonly used human cancer cell lines such as HeLa, HEK293-T, A549, HCT116, Hep G2 and MCF7.

Ready-made diploid KO cell lines are an important tool for antibody validation, and also play a significant role in the study and understanding of biological pathways and disease models and can be used in screening and cellular assays.

Cheri Walker, SVP of corporate development at Abcam, said that the company is “excited to be able to bring the same level of industry-leading quality and data to the cell lines market as we have to research antibodies.

“The cell line market is in the early stages of development as a research tool, where the provision of more choice, with the right gene targets in the right cell lines, will allow the market to rapidly expand.”

The lysate range is expected to be available through the Abcam website in early Q4 2019, with the expanded cell line offering following throughout 2020. In addition, these products will be used to support further knock-out antibody validation, an integral part of Abcam’s on-going antibody quality initiative.