Biotech Rosetta Completes Acacia Biosciences Merger

SEATTLE - The privately held and well-backed biotechnology company Rosetta InPharmatics has completed its merger with Acacia Biosciences.

Rosetta, based in Kirkland, acquired the Richmond, Calif., company in a stock-for-stock exchange. Terms were not released.

In buying Acacia, Rosetta officials hope to combine the two companies' expertise to reduce the cost and to speed up the process of discovering and labeling genes that have medical uses.

Rosetta was formed in 1996 by three Seattle biotech heavyweights: Dr. Stephen Friend, head of molecular pharmacology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Fred Hutch Director Leland Hartwell; and Dr. Leroy Hood, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Washington.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Northwest is among the firms that have made significant investments in Rosetta.