Paragraf Acquires CRISPR-Chip Developer Cardea Bio, Accelerating CRISPR QC’s Business Opportunity

Acquisition to deliver significant progress in manufacturing and technology capabilities, and will further propel CRISPR QC's success in the fast growing gene editing market.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, CRISPR QC announces that Paragraf, Ltd. has acquired Cardea Bio, the technology platform developer of the CRISPR-Chip - a graphene-based biosensor that powers CRISPR QC’s CRISPR Analytics Platform. Paragraf is the only company in the world to mass produce graphene electronics using transfer-free graphene and standard semiconductor processes, which ensures a reliable supply of CRISPR-chips for the CRISPR Analytics Platform, enabling it to meet the needs of the rapidly growing gene editing market. The scaled manufacturing capabilities of Paragraf, combined with Cardea's biosensor and platform expertise, will drive continued growth of CRISPR Analytics Platform globally.

Ross Bundy, co-founder of both Cardea and CRISPR QC, said, "We are excited to see Cardea merge into the Paragraf family. The combination of these two entities creates a powerful capability for graphene electronic innovation and scale. As a key partner in CRISPR QC's mission to bring deeper understanding and precision to gene editing, this merger ensures that the new insights offered by CRISPR QC can be deployed on a tremendous scale throughout the entire field."

Paragraf is based in Somersham, UK, and specializes not only in the manufacture of high-purity graphene but also in its seamless integration into ready-to-use products that can be quickly adopted by partners to support the advancement of their technologies. Their patented contamination-free deposition technology delivers game-changing opportunities for the commercialization of graphene by allowing the manufacture of high-purity 2D graphene sheets on semiconductor wafers at commercial scale.

Prof. Kiana Aran, also co-founder of both Cardea and CRISPR QC, said, "Overall, the Paragraf-Cardea merger is a significant milestone for the gene editing industry, as it enables the creation of innovative solutions and deeper understanding and precision in gene editing. Furthermore, the combination of Cardea’s biosensor knowledge and Paragraf’s production scale, will provide CRISPR QC with a stable supply of graphene-based biosensors for one of a kind CRISPR Analytics Platform, that enables better and safer use of gene editing."

Michael Heltzen, former CEO of Cardea and now Executive Vice President of Strategy at Paragraf states, “Considering the technological prowess of both Cardea and Paragraf, and the great strategic fit between us, it’s expected that the combination of having advanced applications around biology on graphene-based chips, coupled with a scalable production, will instantly result in a company greater than the sum of its parts. The combined Paragraf-Cardea entity unlocks synergistic effects to advance the broad and growing utility of graphene sensors for the potential benefit of CRISPR QC’s mission and humankind as a whole.”

The combination of Paragraf's scaled manufacturing capabilities and Cardea's leading role in biosensor design ensures both rapid scale-up and deployment of new capabilities across the life science industry. This will be useful in driving forward the application and scale of the CRISPR Chip and CRISPR Analytics Platform.