Going primetime with real-time PCR

AUSTIN, Texas—Luminex Corp. has announced the signing of adefinitive agreement with privately held GenturaDx, under which it will acquirethe molecular diagnostics company. Per the terms of the agreement, Luminex willpurchase all of GenturaDx's outstanding shares for $50 million in cash, subjectto working capital reconciliation, as well as potential additional contingentconsideration based on product revenue performance and/or the achievement ofcertain future milestones. Luminex expects the acquisition to be dilutive in2012, and expects it to add roughly $6 million to its operating expenses in2012, excluding acquisition-related expenses.

GenturaDx is currently developing a fully integrated, highlyautomated, real-time PCR system that utilizes a single-use cassette forsample-to-answer workflow. The system is currently in late-stage development,and the combination of GenturaDx's PCR system with Luminex's MultiCode-RTxchemistry is expected to produce a market-leading system for moleculardiagnostic testing.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to address the needsof a large market by expanding our instrument portfolio and integrating ourMultiCode-RTx assays with this innovative platform," Patrick J. Balthrop,president and CEO of Luminex, said in a press release. "This acquisitionaccelerates the development of integrated sample processing capabilities forour technology, and aligns with our mission to reduce healthcare costs andimprove clinical outcomes by providing innovative and affordable solutions totoday's clinical laboratories. The acquisition of GenturaDx builds on ourstrategic investments to date and positions the company to deliver ongoinggrowth by increasing our product portfolio, expanding our market opportunitiesand leveraging our leadership position."

GenturaDx's patented cartridge design offers automatedsample extraction, amplification and detection, allowing for improved testingthroughput while it reduces hands-on time, turnaround times and samplehandling. The system enables users to run a variety of assays on up to 12patients' samples simultaneously. Luminex is expecting that a variety of assaysthat can be used with the system will be commercially available by early 2014.

"Our proprietary technology provides a unique and unmatchedalternative to current sample automation for PCR technology," Mark N.K.Bagnall, president and CEO of GenturaDx, said in a press release. "I amconfident that Luminex will recognize significant strategic and economicbenefit from this acquisition and am pleased that our expertise and technologywill help to fuel continued growth of an established industry leader like Luminex."

Timothy Dehne, vice president of global marketing atLuminex, says the company had been looking for a PCR platform of their own, asthey had been running their assays using other company's systems. Theacquisition, he notes, provides Luminex with its own system, and also providesthem with a sample-to-answer system, which Dehne says "was a gap in our productline and in the marketplace." Dehne notes that at least for the short-term,Luminex will continue GenturaDx's research and development and productionoperations "to help us with a focus on getting this product to market in early2014."

"If you think about the breadth of solutions that we cangive to customers now, we can provide full-plex, real-time solutions that aresample-to-answer, we can provide diagnostic products that are higher plex,multiplex products that can do panel tests … and we can provide proteinanalysis or nucleic acid analysis with our x-map forms," says Dr. JeremyBridge-Cook, senior vice president of research and development at Luminex."What we feel excited about is that we've lined up a very good breadth ofsolutions, both for the life-sciences research market and the diagnosticmarket, to serve our customers better, to provide us with lots of menu opportunitiesfor the future."