Strategic alliance rather than M&A remains the preferred form of strategic interaction in the lab industry.
M&A
The preference of diagnostic companies to work with rather than digest each other belies the fact that billion-dollar M&A deals are taking place. A trio of them made the headlines this month:
Thermo Fisher-Patheon: On Aug. 29, Thermo Fisher Scientific completed its $7.2 billion purchase of contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Patheon.
LabCorp-Chiltern: On Sept. 1, LabCorp wrapped up its $1.2 billion cash acquisition of contract research organization Chiltern.
Abbott-Alere: Meanwhile, after seeking to bail, Abbott is now doing its best to complete its $5.3 billon Alere acquisition alive, extending its previously announced cash tender offer for Alere Series B convertible stock three times. Alere is clearing the antitrust deck by selling off assets, including its Triage BNP assay business and San Diego facilities when the Abbott deal goes through. After announcing sale to Quidel in July, the company unveiled new terms on Sept. 18. Rather than $440 million, Quidel will pay $280 million for BNP, most of it deferred. Quidel will also have “control over the entirety of the BNP business.” In the original deal, Abbott retained about $50 million worth of distribution rights.
Strategic Alliances
Product integration was the flavor of the month in strategic alliances. Significant deals included:
- Qiagen’s integration of its circulating cell-free DNA blood collection tubes into Clinical Genomic’s liquid biopsy colorectal cancer recurrence test;
- A pair of integrations involving FDNA’s Face2Gene phenotyping applications—one with Ambry Genetics and the other with Variantyx; and
- The integration of DNAnexus’s cloud-based genome informatics platform with Edico Genome’s Dragen Genome Pipeline analysis technology.
Here’s a graphic summary of the key diagnostic deals from late August through the first three weeks of September:
MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS & ASSET SALES | ||
Acquiring Company | Target(s) | Deal Summary |
Quidel | Alere’s triage MeterPro cardiovascular and toxicology assets and B-type Naturietic Peptide (BNP) assay business |
|
Thermo Fisher Scientific | Patheon |
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LabCorp | Chiltern (UK CRO) |
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LabCorp | ChromaDex |
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Pragmin Prognosis | Rosetta Genomics’ PersonalizeDx unit |
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Precision for Medicine | Agility Clinical (Carlsbad, CA CRO) |
|
Metabolon | Metabolomic Discoveries |
|
ExcitePCR (subsidiary of PositiveID) | PositiveID |
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STRATEGIC ALLIANCES, PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS | ||
Partner 1 | Partner 2 | Deal Summary |
iBio | TheoremDx |
|
Genomic Health | Biocartis |
|
Curetis | MGI (subsidiary of BGI Group) |
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PerkinElmer | In-Depth Genomics (IDG) |
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RPRD Diagnostics | Orient Bio |
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Genome Medical | Fabric Genomics |
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OneOme | Rainbow Genomics |
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Admera Health | Angsana Molecular & Diagnostics Laboratory |
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Ambry Genetics | NorthShore University HealthSystem |
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Morphotek | Fujirebio Diagnostics |
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Ambry Genetics | FDNA’s |
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Variantyx | FDNA |
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DNAnexus | Edico Genome |
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DNAnexus | Saphetor |
|
Qiagen | Clinical Genomics |
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Qiagen | Angle |
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T2 Biosystems | Cidara Therapeutics |
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Exosome Diagnostics | CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield |
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Illumina | Advanced Analytical Technologies (AATI) |
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Illumina | Telegraph Hill Partners (venture capital firm) |
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Illumicare | ARUP Laboratories |
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VolitionRx. | Laboratory Medicine of German Heart Center at Technical University of Munich |
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IBM | JDRF |
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Tempus | University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center |
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Biocept | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
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DISTRIBUTION, SALES & MARKETING AGREEMENTS | ||
Property Owner | Distributor | Deal Summary |
Pathnostics | GenomeDx |
|
ProAxsis | Diagenics |
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Admera Health | AllBio Pharma |
|
Admera Health | Biois |
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Baebies | Trivitron’s Labsystems Diagnostics |
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Interpace Diagnostics | LabCorp |
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OmniSeq | LabCorp |
|
Streck | Biomedical Diagnostics |
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Streck | TK Biotech |
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Canon BioMedical | Sanbio |
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Ceres Nanosciences | Innatoss Laboratories |
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NantHealth | Asia Genomics |
|
LICENSES | ||
Licensor | Licensee | Deal Summary |
Angle | Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) |
|
Baylor Genetics | Fluidigm |
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SUPPLY, SERVICE & TESTING AGREEMENTS | ||
Supplier | Client | Deal Summary |
Co-Diagnostics | Medcis Pathlabs India |
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