CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
March 9, 2021—Bio-Techne Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire Asuragen for an initial consideration of $215 million in cash plus contingent consideration of up to $105 million upon the achievement of certain milestones.
Asuragen’s portfolio of molecular diagnostic and research products include its FDA-cleared AmplideX Fragile X Diagnostic and Carrier Screening kit for the screening of prospective parents as potential carriers of Fragile X chromosomal abnormalities and its Quantitidex qPCR IS BCR-ABL kit to enable the monitoring of leukemia patients for minimal residual disease.
“Asuragen is very complimentary with Bio-Techne’s existing diagnostics franchise and the addition of this business is expected to drive growth synergies throughout the expanded portfolio. We are not only acquiring a financially strong and scalable business, building our diagnostic portfolio and expanding our bandwidth with an additional CLIA-certified and GMP compliant laboratory, but are also adding a team with deep expertise in the intricacies of the global regulatory environment and a proven track record of opening new market channels,” Chuck Kummeth, president and CEO of Bio-Techne, said in a press release. “This critical mass will be very beneficial to the genomics and diagnostics segment as we commercialize our pipeline of liquid biopsy tests through our exosome diagnostics business and also opens the possibility of approaching the market with kitted versions of these products.”