Abbott To Offer New Approach to Pathogen Detection

Abbott (Abbott park, IL, USA) has completed its purchase of Ibis Biosciences, Inc. (Carlsbad, CA, USA), an Isis subsidiary, for a closing purchase price of U.S. $175 million. A previous investment in Ibis by Abbott of $40 million, together with the $175 million paid at closing, brought the total acquisition price to $215 million plus earn out payments. The acquisition enables Abbott to offer a new approach to the detection and characterization of a broad array of pathogens for the management of infectious diseases.

Ibis Biosciences, Inc has developed and is commercializing the Ibis T5000 biosensor system for rapid identification and characterization of infectious agents. The system can identify virtually all bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and provide information about drug resistance, virulence, and strain type of these pathogens. Commercial applications include epidemiologic surveillance, monitoring of pandemic diseases, identification of emerging or previously unknown pathogens, forensic characterization of human samples, and identification of sources of hospital-associated infections.

"We believe that Abbott is the ideal company to move the Ibis technology into larger commercial markets, such as clinical diagnostics, where Ibis' technology can revolutionize infectious disease detection," said Stanley Crooke, chairman and CEO of Isis. "With the earn out, Isis and our shareholders will continue to participate in Ibis' success."

Abbott's molecular diagnostics business provides physicians with critical information based on the early detection of pathogens and key changes in patients' genes and chromosomes, allowing for earlier diagnosis, selection of appropriate therapies and monitoring of disease progression. The business includes instruments and reagents used to conduct sophisticated analysis of patient DNA and RNA.

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