Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) - Get Report reached a deal to buy closely held Brammer Bio for about $1.7 billion in cash.

Brammer Bio, owned by private-equity firm Ampersand Capital Partners, is a leader in viral vector manufacturing for gene and cell therapies. It has nearly 600 employees at primary locations in Massachusetts and Florida.

Brammer Bio is on track for revenue of $250 million in 2019 and expects to continue to exceed the projected market growth rate of 25% over the mid-term, Thermo Fisher said, adding it expects the business to be accretive to adjusted earnings by 10 cents a share in the first full year of ownership.

Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper, in an interview Sunday with The Wall Street Journal, called Brammer the leader in making viral vectors. "These medicines are really having a tremendous impact on patients," he said.

Casper said that manufacturing gene therapies remains a challenge for drugmakers.

"One of the real constraints here is manufacturing capacity and the ability to develop these drugs in a cost-effective fashion, he told the Journal.

Thermo Fisher shares were up 0.4% to $264.98 on Monday.

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