Advion Sold To Diagnostics Firm

Advion, a maker of compact mass spectrometry systems and consumables for the life sciences industry, has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Beijing Bohui Innovation Technology, a Chinese diagnostics maker.

Bohui will pay $28 million for the Ithaca, N.Y.-based firm when the deal closes on June 30. Advion employs 55 people and will have $15 million in sales this year, according to CEO David Patteson. All employees and executives will remain with the firm, he says.

The deal marks the second time within a year that a Chinese firm has bought a U.S.-based MS business. Last fall, Bruker sold its gas chromatography and GC-single quadrupole MS assets to Hong Kong’s Techcomp for $13.5 million. The business continues to operate in Fremont, Calif., as Scion Instruments.

Bohui, a blood diagnostics manufacturer and service provider, says it will fund R&D projects to strengthen Advion’s market position. Lu Xinqun, Bohui’s CEO, adds that his firm will also promote Advion’s products in the Chinese market.

Venture-capital-backed Advion sold its contract drug research business in 2011 to research services firm Quintiles. Since then, Advion has been a player in the trend to shrink scientific instruments.

In 2012, Advion introduced a single-quadrupole mass spectrometer that fits under a lab fume hood. The firm also developed a miniaturized spray ionization emitter used to introduce samples into liquid chromatography/MS systems.