Celera takes heart

Although Celera Genomics Group has been amassing cardiovascular disease markers over the past five years, the company lacked an outlet to monetize the findings. CRA thinks it solved that problem last week via its proposed acquisition of Berkeley HeartLab Inc., a provider of cardiovascular disease management tests and services, for $195 million in cash.

HeartLab's core technology revolves around lipoprotein subfractionation, which measures the size of both LDL and HDL particles to determine a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease. With that information in hand, Berkeley HeartLab provides personalized treatment guidelines and plans to the patient...