Konica Minolta, With Eye on Health Care, Nears Deal for U.S. Genetics Firm
By JONATHAN SOBLEJULY 5, 2017
TOKYO — Konica Minolta, the Japanese manufacturer of photocopiers
and printers, is preparing to announce a $900 million deal to acquire the American testing company Ambry Genetics, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
In an unusual move, it decided last year to make public information based on data from thousands of
people it had tested, a move it said would aid drug research and other efforts to combat diseases.
The management team includes the company founder and chairman, Charles L. M. Dunlop, who has said his own experience with
prostate cancer — now in remission — influenced his decision to make public anonymized information from Ambry’s database.
Fujifilm, for instance — which, like Konica Minolta, built a name decades ago in photography — has established a profitable health care
and cosmetics division, helping it survive the end of the analog film era.
Ambry Genetics specializes in genetic testing and in analyzing large databases of genetic information to screen for diseases like cancer.
