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Doing the two-step
August 2011
EDIT CONNECT
SHARING OPTIONS:
VENLO, The Netherlands—Looking to ease its way into ownership,
apparently, QIAGEN NV has entered into exclusive negotiations with Marseilles,
France-
based Ipsogen SA, with an offer to purchase a 47 percent initial
stake
in the company, to be followed up later with a public offer to fully acquire
it.
Acquiring Ipsogen would
provide QIAGEN access to a broad
range of assays covering 15 biomarkers—including BCR-ABL and JAK2—used
worldwide for the diagnosis, prognosis and
monitoring of patients with various
blood cancers.
Many of these assays also are used as companion diagnostics
in personalized healthcare to make and guide treatment decisions, QIAGEN notes,
and almost all of Ipsogen's assays have CE-IVD Marking in Europe and
can be
used on QIAGEN's Rotor-Gene Q real-time PCR system. This latter fact, QIAGEN
maintains, "will enable the smooth and rapid transfer of these
unique products
onto QIAGEN's QIAsymphony RGQ, a novel, integrated, sample-to-result laboratory
automation platform that includes the Rotor-Gene Q
system."
"The acquisition of Ipsogen would further expand our global
leadership in molecular assays for
profiling and personalized healthcare,"
noted Peer Schatz, CEO of QIAGEN, in a news release about the deal. "Ipsogen's
molecular cancer profiling
and personalized healthcare assays are clearly
setting standards for the diagnosis and monitoring of many types of blood
cancers as well as the
selection and guidance of therapies. This portfolio
would further increase our leading position in profiling assays, as well as in
companion
diagnostics for personalized healthcare, helping to improve the
treatment of many diseases and addressing unmet medical needs."
"Ipsogen has created a portfolio of molecular assays that
are advancing treatment standards for patients with blood cancers,
and we are
now moving forward in creating new products to support women with breast
cancer," said Vincent Fert, Ipsogen's CEO, in the official
statement. "As part
of QIAGEN, we believe our efforts would be accelerated and benefit from an
industry-leading company and could offer even greater
options to patients and
healthcare providers around the world."
Making a play for Ipsogen now makes sense in part
because as
molecular diagnostic applications disseminate, their advantages over
traditional methods are becoming increasing clear, Dr. Thomas
Theuringer,
QIAGEN's director of public relations, tells ddn.
"This is particularly true in profiling,
in which our tests
help doctors to properly diagnose and manage disease better, as well as in
personalized healthcare where the treatment benefits and
healthcare savings
brought about by companion diagnostics are significant," he notes.
Among the factors "driving
this dissemination to a higher
level" are new regulatory guidelines, especially from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, on companion diagnostics, he says, as well as increased
interest and R&D from
pharma.
"Overall, the addition of Ipsogen will strengthen QIAGEN's
leadership in molecular diagnostics,
significantly expanding our profiling and
personalized healthcare portfolios," Theuringer adds. "There are two different
revenue streams resulting
from this deal: one from the assays as part of our
profiling portfolio and the other from the unique biomarker IP holdings that
are of great interest
to pharma. This is particularly true of the JAK2 V617F
biomarker. Currently there are 15 drug compounds, from different pharma
companies, that are
based on JAK2 V617F."
Also, he points out, Ipsogen's focus on various blood
cancers is complimentary to QIAGEN
's current portfolio.
"We were already very strong with solid tumors, and now,
with the acquisition of
Ipsogen, we can fill offer our customers in oncology
testing comprehensive solutions in hematologic cancer," Theuringer says. "On a
macro level, we
are also seeing a strong emphasis on platform content in
driving growth. By adding more test content to our platform systems, we are
positioning
ourselves for rapid growth in these sectors in the future."
The total value to fully acquire Ipsogen, which has
70
employees in France and the United States, is approximately $101 million, which
is about six times Ipsogen's anticipated full-year 2012 net sales.
The Ipsogen
board of directors has "favorably welcomed" QIAGEN's offer, and the board
members are among the shareholders who have agreed to the
exclusivity of the
negotiations.
Ipsogen boasts more than 400 active customers globally and
reports that more
than 40 percent of net sales during 2010 were reinvested into
research and development activities.
All three managing cofounders of Ipsogen—CEO
Vincent Fert, Chief
Operating Officer Stéphane Debono and R&D and Regulatory Affairs Senior
Director Fabienne Hermitte—are expected to stay with
QIAGEN following the
acquisition.
QIAGEN increases offer for Cellestis
VENLO, the Netherlands—As announced in the May
issue of ddn, QIAGEN NV recently offered to
acquire Cellestis Ltd. for approximately
$355 million in cash. On July 11, QIAGEN announced that it is increasing its
offer for the Australian biotech
to $374 million.
According
to QIAGEN, Cellestis' board of directors continues to unanimously recommend
shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition in the absence of a superior
proposal.
The amended proposal for
the transaction, which QIAGEN will
fund from existing cash reserves, is not expected to result in any material
changes to estimates provided by QIAGEN
in April. On an adjusted basis, which
excludes one-time charges, integration and restructuring costs and amortization
of acquisition-related intangible
assets, the transaction is expected to be
moderately dilutive to full-year adjusted earnings per share due to planned
large investments in sales
capabilities and R&D initiatives for migration
of existing Cellestis products onto QIAGEN's platforms, as well as for new product
development.
Key to the acquisition is access to Cellestis' QuantiFERON
technology, a proprietary approach for disease
detection and monitoring, which
QIAGEN says is complementary to its portfolio
of molecular diagnostics. Cellestis has several new products based on
QuantiFERON technology under evaluation targeting other diseases and conditions
and generated $42 million in sales for the technology last year.
Code: E081113 Back |
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