Enzo Biochem made a major strategic move by selling off its laboratory division to LabCorp for $146 million in cash. The sale, which Enzo disclosed in its latest US Securities and Exchange filing, will enable the Farmingdale, NY-based company to focus on its life science business and the discovery and research market as part of the restructuring initiative it launched at the end of last year. The sale must still be approved by Enzo’s shareholders at a special meeting called by the board of directors for that purpose.
Like so many other molecular diagnostics companies, Enzo has struggled as a result of the falling demand for COVID-19 testing. However, while overall lab testing division revenues fell 43 percent to $11.2 million in the fiscal quarter that ended on October 31, 2022, the company achieved solid four percent growth in non-COVID-19 testing.
Meanwhile, after a significant excursion into clinical trial services via its $6.2 billion acquisition of contract research organization Covance Inc. in 2015. LabCorp is going through its own restructuring. Last July, LabCorp announced that it would spin off clinical trials and drug development into a separate entity with the remaining core company to refocus on the firm’s bread-and-butter lab and diagnostics testing business. Acquiring Enzo’s clinical lab business is a major step in that direction.