A VisEn-ary acquisition

PerkinElmer’s acquisition of VisEn Medical will add in vivo molecular imaging capabilities to enhance preclinical research

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WALTHAM, Mass.—PerkinElmer Inc. has acquired VisEn Medical Inc., an in vivo molecular imaging technology company based in Bedford, Mass. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but PerkinElmer notes that the acquisition enables it to enhance its cellular imaging business, by expanding the company's technologies and capabilities downstream into preclinical research that is carried out at academic institutes and pharmaceutical companies.

"We are very pleased to bring VisEn into the PerkinElmer organization," says Richard Eglen, president of Bio-discovery at PerkinElmer. "VisEn provides a compelling offering in molecular imaging platforms and tools that are synergistic with PerkinElmer's existing business. This acquisition broadens our product portfolio along the drug discovery pipeline, from basic disease-based research to preclinical drug discovery applications, through the addition of proprietary chemistries in the emerging and fast growing space of translational biomarker reagents."

VisEn's proprietary fluorescence molecular imaging systems and reagents are currently used in applications involving research in such areas as cancer, inflammation, cardiovascular, skeletal diseases and pulmonary diseases.

"We've had a franchise in imaging more at the cellular level, and we've had a significant position there for some time," notes Alan Fletcher, vice president and general manager of the preclinical imaging segment of PerkinElmer's Bio-discovery business entity. "We looked at our business and what customers were doing, and there is a trend toward getting as much information as possible before the clinical trial stage so that they come out of the other side in a good position."

VisEn had the technology to help PerkinElmer meet that customer need, particularly in oncology, though the many other applicable therapeutic areas are also very attractive to PerkinElmer Bio-discovery, Fletcher says.

"VisEn is the first company we were able to find with a significant portfolio of translational biomarkers," he adds, "and that is important because they not only work in vivo, but also at the cellular level. In our cellular portfolio where we sell confocal microscopes and such, these biomarkers can translate from the cell and into animal models and possibly long-term into companion diagnostics for humans."

The VisEn offering includes its Fluorescence Agent Portfolio and its Fluorescence Molecular Tomographic (FMT) Imaging Systems. These technologies provide quantitative molecular imaging data that can be useful for identifying and characterizing a range of disease biomarkers and therapeutic efficacy in cells and animal models. This cellular imaging approach, combined with PerkinElmer's technologies, can enable better screening and optimization of potential new drugs, the parties say, and provide an increased correlation of isolated cellular activity with in vivo biological activity. This, they say, will allow researchers to get closer to understanding human responses and thereby develop better potential therapies.

VisEn will become part of the Bio-discovery business entity within PerkinElmer, a unit that focuses on the global life science market by offering a broad portfolio of chemistries, detection solutions, imaging solutions and services to researchers and drug discovery scientists worldwide. The VisEn name will officially become PerkinElmer. Company officials note that the name "VisEn" will be phased out over the coming months, though individual product names will remain the same.

VisEn's portfolio is said to particularly well compliment PerkinElmer's focus on cancer, inflammation, epigenetics and biomarkers as well as PerkinElmer's existing confocal, high-content screening and software imaging solutions.


 
PerkinElmer's second-quarter revenue up 14 percent

WALTHAM, Mass.—Shortly after announcing its acquisition of VisEn Medical Inc., PerkinElmer Inc. announced that its second-quarter revenue increased 14 percent compared to the same period last year.

Revenue in Q2 was $497.8 million; organic revenue also increased 14 percent over Q2 2009. Revenue in the company's Human and Environmental Health segments increased by 7 percent and 19 percent, respectively, compared to Q2 2009.

PerkinElmer reported GAAP earnings-per-share from continuing operations of 46 cents, compared to 20 cents in Q2 2009. On a non-GAAP basis, the company announced adjusted earnings-per-share of 38 cents, exceeding its prior guidance of 32 cents to 34 cents, representing an increase of 36 percent over Q2 2009.

"We are pleased with our performance for the second quarter of 2010 as we generated significant revenue and EPS growth as well as strong cash flow," says Robert Friel, chairman and CEO of PerkinElmer. "During the first half of this year, we have made very good progress against our strategic priorities of increasing the growth profile of the company through leveraging adjacent markets and geographic expansion, as well as establishing a framework to drive higher profitability."



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