Genomma Labs to Acquire Prestige Brands for $834 Million

Roche Holding AG’s pursuit of Illumina Inc. is putting companies from Life Technologies Corp. to Genomic Health Inc. in play as health-care providers turn to DNA to tailor treatments for cancer and inherited diseases.

Life Technologies, which sells for less relative to 2012 earnings than 95 percent of U.S. life-science equipment makers, may be targeted for a takeover as it competes with Illumina to introduce a faster, cheaper gene-sequencing instrument, said Macquarie Group Ltd. Debt-free Genomic Health, the provider of a genetic test for breast cancer, may also lure buyers, JMP Securities said, while genomic-analysis tools maker Affymetrix Inc. would be the cheapest company to acquire relative to free cash flow, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.