Roche is agreeing to pay $140 million to buy CuraGen’s 454 Life Sciences unit in order to gain its DNA-mapping technology. The drugmaker already has a research collaboration with the company providing access to its genome-sequencing system.

454 Life Sciences’ machines can read how genetic sequences are organized on a single strand of DNA. Mapping can also help identify the genetic cause of a disease or suggest ways to provide treatment. German scientists are using the technology to try to uncover the genetic makeup of Neanderthals using 45,000-year-old bones found in Croatia.

Separately, the European Union approved Avastin as a first line of therapy to treat spreading breast cancer, in combo with chemotherapy. The approval was based on tests that showed the medicine helps women live on average twice as long as those given chemotherapy alone.

The FDA last year delayed approving Avastin, the second-biggest cancer med for Roche and Genentech, to treat breast tumors in order to further review its safety and effectiveness. Avastin was first approved in the US in 2004 as a first-choice for people with colon cancer that spread.

Source: Bloomberg News[tags]CuraGen, Genentech, Roche[/tags]