BioMérieux and Sema4 Complete Strategic Acquisitions

Although diagnostic merger and acquisition (M&A) deal values remain relatively low, volume picked up noticeably this month. Here’s a summary of the two biggest deals that came down in May.

BioMérieux Acquires Specific Diagnostics for $416.8 Million

On May 18, BioMérieux finalized its acquisition of Specific Diagnostics for approximately $416.8 million, equivalent to 3.2 percent of the French diagnostic firm’s market capitalization as of closing date, paying with a combination of cash and shares issued to Specific Diagnostics shareholders.

Acquiring Specific Diagnostics, a private-held US company and its Specific Reveal Rapid AST system, a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) system that delivers phenotypic AST results directly from positive blood cultures, enhances BioMérieux’s global position in clinical microbiology. The Specific system seamlessly integrates with BioMérieux’s own Sepsis Solution, enabling it to generate same-day AST results from Gram-negative bacteria, according to BioMérieux.

“By combining the advanced technology of the Specific Reveal Rapid AST solution for bloodstream infections with our existing solutions, we are increasing the ability of laboratories to deliver results in record time, especially in cases of very critical infections such as sepsis, which require urgent and appropriate treatment,” noted BioMérieux executive VP and chief medical officer Mark Miller in a statement.

Sema4 Acquires GeneDx for $623 Million

On May 2, Sema4 announced that it has closed its $623 million acquisition of GeneDx from Opko Health. In addition to $150 million in cash, Opko received 80 million shares of Sema4 stock, valued at $323 million. It will also get up to $150 million in revenue-based milestone payments over the next two years.

Founded by a pair of National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists in 2000, GeneDx is a genetic testing company specializing in rare and ultra-rare disorders. The acquisition enables Sema4 to offer precision testing for a broader range of diseases.

By divesting GeneDx, a firm it picked up in its 2015 acquisition of BioReference Laboratories in 2015, Opko Health is basically shutting down day-to-day activity in the molecular diagnostics space to focus on pharma development and its remaining BioReference-branded diagnostics assets.

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Here’s a summary of the key new M&A diagnostic deals that were announced and/or closed in May 2022:

Mergers, Acquisitions, & Asset Sales

Acquiring Company	Target(s)	Deal Summary
Qiagen	Blirt	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Acquisition of 96% stake in Poland-based manufacturer of recombinant enzymes enhances Qiagen’s enzymes and reagents business
Fulgent Genetics	Inform Diagnostics	• Price: $170 million cash • Status: Closed • Acquisition of pathology lab expands Fulgent's test menu into breast pathology, gastrointestinal pathology, dermatopathology, urologic pathology, neuropathology, and hematopathology
Opko Health	ModeX Therapeutics	• Price: $300 million in common stock • Status: Closed • Acquisition of developer of immune therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, including cancer immunotherapies that combine four specificities into one protein
BioMérieux	Specific Diagnostics	• Price: $416.8 million cash and shares, equivalent to 3.3 percent of BioMérieux's $12.63 billion market capitalization as of April 11 • Status: Closed • Acquisition of California-based developer of Specific Reveal Rapid AST rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test system that delivers phenotypic AST results from positive blood cultures, which seamlessly integrates with BioMérieux's Sepsis Solution
Biosynth Carbosynth	Aalto Bio Reagents	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Supplier of critical materials to life science industry acquires developer of biological materials for emerging diseases diagnostics and vaccine development
Synexa Life Sciences BV	Syrinx Bioanalytics	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Acquisition of bioanalytical CRO based in Finland advances Synexa’s “buy and build” strategy to become global market leader in specialist biomarker and bioanalytical services
Innova Medical Group	Attomarker	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Innova acquires undisclosed minority stake in UK-based point-of-care diagnostics firm • Innova to also become a distributor of Attomarker's products
Castle Biosciences	AltheaDx	• Price: $65 million up front, including $32.5 million cash and $32.5 million of Castle common stock + up to $75.0 million more in cash and common stock based on milestones tied to expanded payor coverage for IDgenetix • Status: Closed • Acquisition of molecular diagnostics firm specializes in mental health pharmacogenomic testing, including IDgenetix test assessing pharmacogenomic loci associated with response to drugs for depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions
Sema4	GeneDx (from Opko Health)	• Price: $623 million total, including $150 million cash and 80 million shares of Sema4 stock up front, plus up to $150 million in revenue-based milestone payments to GeneDx over next 2 years • Status: Closed • Acquisition of GeneDx’s comprehensive genomics datasets and assets expands Sema4’s precision medicine capabilities
Enumera Molecular	Progenity	• Price: Enumera being funded with initial $12.5 million Series A financing round led by Arboretum Ventures • Status: Closed • Progenity sells off its discovery-stage biochemical and bioinformatics technologies for rapid, low-cost liquid biopsy testing to newly formed Enumera • Progenity gets ownership stake in new company
Qualigen Therapeutics	NanoSynex	• Price: Stock-for-stock acquisition + initial $600,000 cash investment in NanoSynex • Status: No closing date • Qualigen to acquire majority stake in Israeli developer of an antimicrobial susceptibility testing platform that uses phenotypic analyses and a microfluidic disposable test card to rapidly pair correct antibiotics to patients' infections
Biotium	Cell Data Sciences	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Biotium acquires and to become sole manufacturer of Cell Data’s CAT5 FFPE RNA and DNA extraction technology
LetsGetChecked	BioIQ	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Acquisition of analytics-driven population health and diagnostics company, which will operate as wholly owned subsidiary, enables LetsGetChecked to offer customers access to new virtual care options
Nicoya Lifesciences	LSK Technologies	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Closed • Nicoya acquires University of Toronto spinout seeking to decentralize lab testing via a high-throughput lab-in-a-box platform for nucleic acid and protein testing originally created for Zika detection but later pivoted for COVID-19
Oncologix Tech	DNAgo	• Price: Undisclosed • Status: Definitive agreement to merge with no closing date announced • Newly combined company will continue to use DNAgo's name and provide clinical genetic testing, including sequencing across the whole exome to identify variants associated with more than 7,000 rare genetic diseases using what it calls its “AI System”