Illumina completes acquisition of SomaLogic from Standard BioTools

BOULDER — Illumina Inc. (Nasdaq: ILMN), a genomics and molecular diagnostics company headquartered in San Diego, closed in late January on its acquisition of Boulder-based biotech firm SomaLogic Inc.

The deal, which comes just two years after SomaLogic merged with Standard BioTools Inc. (Nasdaq: LAB, is worth as much as $425 million. California-based Standard BioTools received $350 million at closing and could be paid up to $75 million more if the SomaLogic business achieves certain performance-based milestones and sales royalties.

SomaLogic develops assay platforms to read thousands of proteins in a patient’s blood or urine sample that may signal illnesses or future health conditions and suggest potential treatments via machine learning. The company has about 250 employees worldwide and lab, office and manufacturing space in Boulder, which passes to Illumina in the acquisition.

Illumina integrated SomaLogic’s SomaScan Proteomics Assay onto its next-generation-sequencing (NGS) platforms in late 2021.

“Illumina is building new, scalable growth businesses that complement and accelerate its high-throughput sequencing franchise. The SomaLogic acquisition ideally positions Illumina for growth in the expanding proteomics market by increasing customer access to SomaLogic’s technologies and service offerings, coupled with Illumina’s product innovation and global market reach,” Illumina said in a news release.

SomaLogic and Standard merged in early 2024 in a deal that valued the combined company, which carried the Standard BioTools name, at more than $1 billion. That merger came about three years after CM Life Sciences II, a special purpose acquisition company controlled by life-sciences investment group Casdin Capital LLC, merged with SomaLogic, taking the Boulder company public.

The 2024 combination with Standard occurred despite opposition from investors, including from private-equity firms that hold significant positions in the company as well as from SomaLogic’s founder and its chief technology officer.

Prior to the merger with Standard, SomaLogic struggled to attain profitability. As of early 2024, when the Standard merger closed, the company’s stock price had shaved off more than 80% of its value since the 2021 SPAC deal.

At 1 p.m. Thursday, Illumina stock was trading at 115.66, down 21.32% over the past month.

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