Caliper Grabs $15.8M In Product Line Sale

Hopkinton-based Caliper Life Sciences Inc. says it has reached an agreement to sell one of its product lines for $15.8 million.

The company says international pharmaceutical testing company SOTAX Corp. will buy Caliper's pharmaceutical development and quality analysis product line. The deal is expected to close next month. Under the agreement, SOTAX will pay $13.8 million in cash for the Caliper line, assume $2 million in related liabilities and sign a long-term lease for 10,000 square feet of Caliper office and manufacturing space.

The lease transaction lowers Caliper's facilities costs and allows the company to focus on the growth of its bread-and-butter imaging, microfluidics and sample preparation businesses.

Caliper said the pharmaceutical development and quality analysis product line was "non-strategic." SOTAX's main business is testing pills for the pharmaceutical industry.