Roche has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GeneWEAVE BioSciences, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based, privately held company focused on clinical microbiology diagnostics solutions. Roche will pay GeneWEAVE shareholders $190 million upfront and up to $235 million in contingent product related milestones. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and, once closed, GeneWEAVE will be integrated into Roche Molecular Diagnostics.

The acquisition provides Roche with GeneWEAVE’s Smarticles technology, a class of molecular diagnostics that quickly identifies multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and assesses antibiotic susceptibility directly from clinical samples, without the need for traditional enrichment, culture or sample preparation processes. GeneWEAVE’s first system in development is the vivoDx—a fully automated, random-access system designed to meet the needs of laboratories addressing MDRO detection and antibiotic therapy guidance. The technology currently is being evaluated in multiple sites across the U.S.