Invitrogen Corp. has agreed to pay $6.4 billion in cash to acquire Applera’s Applied Biosystems (AB) Group. AB develops DNA analysis devices for sequencing human genes. Earlier this year, the company announced it had sequenced an entire human genome for less than $60,000, down from the $3 billion spent on the Human Genome Project five years ago. Invitrogen makes a broad range of biochemicals and equipment used in government, academic and corporate medical research labs.
   
The two companies’ complementary technologies “will drive the price of decoding that genome ever lower,” said Invitrogen’s chief executive officer, Greg Lucier.
   
The new company will take the Applied Biosystems name and be led by Mr. Lucier. AB chief operating officer Mark Stevenson will serve as chief operating officer and Invitrogen chief financial officer, David Hoffmeister, will retain his position. The new company’s board will include Invitrogen’s nine current directors along with three members from the current Applera board.
   
“Certainly the promise of personalized medicine — getting the right drug at the right time to the right patient — is absolutely a driver in thinking about future markets,” Mr. Stevenson said.
   
“With this acquisition, we are nearly doubling our consumables business as almost half of Applied Biosystems’s revenues are consumable in nature,” said Mr. Lucier.
   
The acquisition, which needs to be approved by both companies’ shareholders, is expected to close this fall.