Genomics Collaborative Inc. is being bought for about $14.3 million by SeraCare Life Sciences Inc., which manufactures and provides biological materials and services used in the production of therapeutic drugs and diagnostic tests, and for additional research applications.

Based in Cambridge, Mass., privately held Genomics Collaborative supplies clinical specimens and data to the pharmaceutical industry for use in proteomic and genomic studies, biomarker validation, drug discovery and development, and clinical validation. SeraCare said the acquisition broadens its product portfolio of well-phenotyped human DNA, serum and tissue. Genomics Collaborative's existing inventory includes 550,000 samples from more than 120,000 patients.

Oceanside, Calif.-based SeraCare added that the purchase also provides it access to Genomics Collaborative's existing contract accounts, which generated $4.3 million in sales during the last fiscal year, and at the same time reduces its outsourcing costs.

Terms of the transaction include a net cash payment of $800,000 to Genomics Collaborative, which also will receive about 1.1 million common shares of SeraCare. It also will assume certain of Genomics Collaborative's liabilities.

SeraCare's expansion follows its previously reported purchase of substantially all of the assets of the BBI Diagnostics and BBI Biotech Research Laboratories divisions of Boston Biomedica Inc., a diagnostics company based in West Bridgewater, Mass. It expects to complete that transaction during the third quarter.