MANUFACTURING
Waltham’s PerkinElmer buys San Diego’s BioLegend for $5.3 billion
PerkinElmer has agreed to buy San Diego’s-based BioLegend, a manufacturer of antibodies and chemical reagents used by researchers, for about $5.3 billion, the largest transaction in the Waltham-based firm’s history. The local maker of diagnostics, lab equipment, and software said it is acquiring BioLegend to expand into fast-growing market segments, such as cell and gene therapy, and as well as enter new areas within its life sciences business. The acquisition highlights the Boston area’s growing influence in the sector, which is dominated by a handful of local companies including Boston Scientific, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Waters Corp. Prahlad Singh, the chief executive of PerkinElmer, said in a press release that the merger could “accelerate discoveries that help life science researchers … better understand and fight disease.” Gene…
