News and Events > Fisher Scientific International to purchase Dharmacon, Inc.

Fisher Scientific International to purchase Dharmacon, Inc.

February 12, 2004

Dharmacon, Inc., a company based on intellectual property created at the University of Colorado, Boulder, announced today that the company has agreed to be acquired by Fisher Scientific International Inc. for $80 million in cash. The deal adds to Fisher's growing list of life science acquisitions and significantly expands Fisher's presence in the market. In recent transactions, Fisher also purchased Oxoid Group Holding Ltd and Perbio Science Inc. Paul Montrone, chairman and chief executive officer of Fisher, said the company would have a $700 million life-sciences footprint when the acquisitions are complete.

Dharmacon is based in Lafayette, Colorado and develops RNA technology useful in life sciences research and the drug discovery process. The company reported sales of $17MM last year.

Dharmacon was founded in 1995 to develop and commercialize a new technology for RNA oligonucleotide synthesis. This new chemistry was invented and developed by Stephen Scaringe under the direction of Professor Marvin Caruthers at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Drs. Caruthers and Scaringe saw the unmet needs of biology researchers and the biotech industry for reliable, high-quality, chemically synthesized RNA, and envisioned that a novel RNA chemistry was necessary to fulfill this need. From 1991-1995, they developed a new chemical strategy for synthesizing RNA, now referred to as 5'-silyl-2'-orthoester or 2'-ACE RNA chemistry. The further development and ultimate commercialization of this innovative RNA technology was the impetus for founding Dharmacon Research.

Dharmacon moved into its first facility in June of 1995 and began providing RNA oligos less than a year later. Since that time, Dharmacon has more than doubled the number of oligos synthesized every year. Today, Dharmacon provides more than 60% of the world's commercially synthesized RNA oligos.

In August of 2002, Dharmacon raised $5.7 million in venture financing from two firms, Boulder Ventures Ltd. and Telegraph Hill Partners.

Ken Porter, Director of the Boulder campus Technology Transfer Office, noted that "Dharmacon is the most recent example of a successful CU start-up company that combined groundbreaking scientific discovery with the business and financial resources needed to commercialize the research. CU has long been a world-class research institution. Now, we're expanding our presence in the marketplace as well."