Diagnostic Acquisitions Expand Inverness

The acquisition of two diagnostic companies in September 2005 has been announced by Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (Waltham, MA, USA), designed to expand the company's capabilities and lead to increased growth.

Inverness acquired Innogenetics Diagnostica Y Terapeutica, S.A. U. (IDT, Barcelona, Spain) from Innogenetics NV (Ghent, Belgium) for about U.S.$11.8 million, plus a working capital adjustment to be paid during the fourth quarter estimated at around $7.2 million. IDT is a Spanish distributor of diagnostic products whose 2004 revenues were about $15 million. IDT will operate under the name "Inverness Medical Iberia.” Inverness believes the acquisition will provide strong sales and marketing capabilities in the professional diagnostics marketplace in Spain.

Inverness also acquired Thermo BioStar, Inc. (Louisville, CO, USA) from Thermo Electron Corp. (Waltham, MA, USA) for around $52.5 million. BioStar is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance, rapid diagnostic tests, including tests for the detection of infectious diseases.

"In addition to bringing us a complementary and proprietary line of high-sensitivity point-of-care rapid tests, we are acquiring one of the industry's leading direct sales teams,” noted Ron Zwanziger, CEO of Inverness, commenting on the BioStar acquisition. "This direct access to physician offices as well as to hospitals and laboratories will be especially beneficial when it comes time to educate the point-of-care marketplace on the cardiac products we have under development, such as the prothrombin test due out in the U.S. marketplace in 2006.”




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