RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—CellzDirect, (which provides cell-based products and services for drug testing, has sold to California-based Invitrogen (Nasdaq:IVGN) for $57 million in cash.

The seven-year-old company employs 47 people in Durham. It expects 2007 revenue of $18 million. CEO Scott Edelman will helm the company as an Invitrogen subsidiary. No layoffs are expected.

CellzDirect recently said it would move into new 30,000-square-foot Durham offices. Its technology helps determine an experimental drug’s effects on metabolism, which is tested along with safety in initial clinical trials of compounds.

“Combining with Invitrogen will enhance our already strong position in the primary cell market,” said Scott Edelman, CEO at CellzDirect. “We expect CellzDirect’s growth rates to benefit from cross-promotion and combination with Invitrogen’s technologies for cell culture.”

Invitrogen sells numerous products to the life sciences industry.

On the Web: www.cellzdirect.com

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