Quidel to Acquire Alere Triage Assets

Quidel Corporation (San Diego, CA, USA), a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire the Triage MeterPro cardiovascular (CV) and toxicology assets (“Triage business”) and the B-type Naturietic Peptide (BNP) assay business run on Beckman Coulter analyzers (“BNP business”) from Alere Inc. (Waltham, MA, USA). These products are being divested in order to obtain antitrust approvals required for Abbott’s pending acquisition of Alere.

Quidel develops diagnostic solutions and products which aid in the detection and diagnosis of many critical diseases and conditions, including, among others, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, Strep A, herpes, pregnancy, thyroid disease and fecal occult blood. Quidel will acquire the Triage business, including real estate for the San Diego Triage facilities, and the BNP business for a total consideration of USD 400 million in addition to USD 40 million in contingent consideration. Quidel will distribute the Triage MeterPro products and BNP assays through a combination of direct sales force and distributors.

“We’ve been looking at acquisition opportunities in high-growth segments of the POC diagnostics market, such as cardiovascular, for several years, and believe that this strategic acquisition extends Quidel’s market leadership, adding an extensive cardiovascular and toxicology POC offering to our innovative medical diagnostics portfolio. The Triage acquisition significantly stabilizes our quarterly revenue profile and enhances our geographic and product diversity, with substantial expansion opportunities in new markets.

Further, while the installed base of Triage MeterPro instruments in the U.S. nicely complements the installed base of our Sofia and Solana platforms in the hospital segment, there will be new call points that our U.S. commercial organization can leverage as well. And internationally, the Triage MeterPro system gives us access to the rapidly evolving cardiac biomarker segment, one of the faster growing segments in the IVD market,” stated Douglas Bryant, president and chief executive officer of Quidel Corporation. “We believe there are substantial benefits to be realized as we bring these strong organizations together, further establishing Quidel’s platform for growth and shareholder value creation opportunities.”