(Yicai) Feb. 24 -- MGI Tech, a Chinese supplier of gene-sequencing equipment, has agreed to sell its US subsidiary to Swiss life sciences group Swiss Rockets to avoid geopolitical risks.

MGI will sell 100 percent of Complete Genomics, a US-based innovator in genomic sequencing technology, to Swiss Rockets for USD50 million, the Shenzhen-based parent company announced yesterday.

Once the deal is closed, Complete Genomics will continue to operate as a US company, with its management team retaining responsibility for daily operations, product strategy, software development, and customer relationships. Meanwhile, MGI will keep the rights to use 205 patents held by Complete Genomics through a reverse licensing agreement.

As the global geopolitical landscape becomes more complex, MGI faces an increasingly challenging policy environment in the United States, the firm noted. The deal will create a new structure that complies with local regulatory requirements, ensuring that Complete Genomics continues operating in North America and promoting MGI's international development.

Complete Genomics is MGI's core overseas business, responsible for the research, development, production, and sales of gene sequencing equipment and reagents in North America. Its revenue from the US market totaled CNY474 million (USD68.6 million) between 2023 and 2025, accounting for about 5.5 percent of MGI's total revenue in the period.

MGI and Swiss Rockets, which specializes in biotechnology research and development in the fields of oncology and infectious diseases, already linked arms once in September last year, when the Chinese firm granted the Swiss peer exclusive marketing rights for its CoolMPS technology in all global markets except China and Asia-Pacific for USD120 million.

That deal also established that the pair could expand the scope of their collaboration to also include the exclusive regional rights to MGI's core gene sequencing technology platform StandardMPS in the US and Canada, according to yesterday's statement.

MGI's global revenue from StandardMPS accounted for about 80 percent of its total revenue between 2023 and 2025, while the platform's sales in the US and Canada made up around 5 percent of that.

MGI's business boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the company has been in the red since 2023, when demand for test kits began to shrink. Last year, its net loss likely narrowed 55 percent to 63 percent to between CNY273 million and CNY221 million (USD39.6 million and USD32 million) from the previous year, according to MGI's latest forecast.

MGI's shares [SHA: 688114] were trading up 2.1 percent at CNY66.68 (USD9.66) as of 10.45 a.m. in Shanghai today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione