Agilent Technologies has completed the acquisition of US-based BioTek Instruments for around $1.165bn (£929m).

In July, Agilent first signed an agreement to acquire BioTek Instruments, which is involved in the designing, manufacturing, and distribution of advanced life science instrumentation.

Agilent also said that the net purchase price is expected to be around $1.05bn (£837m), with anticipated tax benefits for the company.

BioTek, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of life science instrumentation

BioTek’s product portfolio is comprised of cell imaging systems, microplate readers, washers, dispensers, automated incubators, and stackers.

The acquisition of BioTek will help Agilent to enhance its expertise in cell analysis, in addition to strengthening its position in the immuno-oncology and immunotherapy areas.

The combined portfolio will enable Agilent to offer a range of unique cell analysis workflows to customers to gather more reliable insights across a variety of cell analysis applications.

BioTek’s expertise will also be used by Agilent to expand its presence in biopharma, academia, and research, helping customers to understand complex cellular environments and interactions.

Agilent president and CEO Mike McMullen said: “We’re extremely pleased to add BioTek’s tremendously talented employees and industry leading technologies to the Agilent team.

“The combination of our two companies and our collective offerings will help lead to a better understanding of cell function, behavior and interactions. This will enable researchers to more quickly achieve significant breakthroughs in solving the most complex health and science challenges.”

BioTek is expected to contribute between $20m and $25m to Agilent revenues in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year.

With over 15,500 employees, Agilent offers instruments, software, services and consumables to the sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets.

Earlier this month, Agilent has secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx assay for expanded use.

The FDA has approved the assay to detect patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) for treatment with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), an anti-PD-1 therapy produced by Merck.