Gen-Probe Purchases Prodesse for US$60 Million

Gen-Probe Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) has signed an agreement to acquire Prodesse Inc., (Waukesha, WI, USA) for approximately $60 million in cash. Gen-Probe's purchase price could increase to up to $85 million if Prodesse achieves certain financial and regulatory milestones in 2010 and 2011.

In connection with the acquisition, Gen-Probe and Prodesse have signed an agreement under which Gen-Probe's sales representatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe will begin copromoting Prodesse's products.

Prodesse develops molecular diagnostic reagents for a variety of infectious disease applications. Prodesse sells three U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Silver Spring, MD, USA) 510(k) cleared products in the United States, and two additional CE-marked products in Europe. The company's products can be used in conjunction with various nucleic acid extraction and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platforms, including Cepheid's (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) SmartCycler II System.

ProFlutest, a Prodesse molecular test, was cleared by the FDA in January 2008 for the detection and discrimination of Influenza A Virus, Influenza B Virus, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Test results can be obtained in as little as three hours using the assay--a significant improvement over culture-based methods. Prodesse also sells FDA-approved, real-time PCR assays for the clinical diagnosis of Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that is the most serious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and human metapneumovirus, a common cause of lower respiratory infection in children.

Gen-Probe develops, manufactures, and markets nucleic acid tests (NATs) that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. "We believe acquiring Prodesse supports our strategic focus on commercializing differentiated molecular tests for infectious diseases," said Carl Hull, Gen-Probe's president and CEO. "The acquisition is expected to boost our near-term earnings and revenue growth by providing additional leading-edge assays for our experienced sales force to promote to our global customer base."

Related Links:
Gen-Probe Inc.
Prodesse Inc.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Cepheid