Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
Judge OKs Request to Kill Class-Action Move to Block LabCorp From Buying Orchid
LabCorp appears free to acquire Orchid Cellmark after a New Jersey federal court agreed to a plaintiff's request to voluntarily dismiss a proposed shareholder class-action suit opposing the deal.
As I wrote in April, LabCorp made a bid to acquire the identity- and forensic-testing company for $85.4 million. The buy, which translates to around $2.80 per share, was a wise move for the reference lab because it would give it a foothold in the UK, enabling it to compete overseas with its biggest rival, Quest.
But a gaggle of Orchid shareholders think the bid is too low, saying the company's board "hastened the sale without trying to obtain a competitive price" for the shop.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Anne Thompson filed an order finalizing plaintiff Nicholas Tsatsis’ voluntary dismissal.
The investor, which an article on the website Law360.com called "disgruntled," said Orchid’s stock was worth closer to $6 per share. The stock was down $.02 at $2.75 mid-afternoon trading today — meaning LabCorp's bid already puts the stock at a premium.
LabCorp, long a US-only player, got its passport stamped for the first time in September 2010 when it spent nearly $1 billion to buy Genzyme Genetics to freshen its reproductive, hem-onc, and other esoteric-testing menus. But more importantly, the buy gave LabCorp a foothold in Asia thanks to Genzyme's outpost in Tokyo.
The Orchid deal, though worth a fraction of the Genzyme buy, is an equally important component of LabCorp's international-expansion strategy because it enables it to plant a flag in European soil, where Quest has a strong presence.
Just as noteworthy is the fact that the acquisition, which had been expected to close before the end of June, would "significantly diversify" LabCorp's menu by "strengthen[ing] its specialized forensic and family relationship testing" business, CEO David King said in a statement at the time.
To be fair, the deal is a steal for LabCorp, and not just for the selling price, which will actually be $65.6 million when factoring in the roughly $20 million in cash, equivalents, and available-for-sale securities Orchid held as of Dec. 31, 2010.
Orchid has gone through some serious metamorphoses since it was founded in 1995 as a bioinformatics company [see here, here, here, and here]. These days, the Princeton, NJ-based company offers DNA-testing services for paternity and twin verification, immigration and adoption purposes, heritage identification and genealogy confirmation, estate requirements, kinship confirmation, and what it calls "infidelity and non-standard" testing. It performs this via a network of more than 5,000 collection sites worldwide.
It also has a base in Oxfordshire, UK, that operates under the name Cellmark, and one in Canada in New Westminster, BC, that uses the parent company's full name. Both facilities perform similar DNA-based tests as the US lab.
Orchid's forensics business, which is similar to LabCorp's comparatively smaller play, has enjoyed sprightly demand over the past few years, lining up numerous police-department customers in the US and the UK (see here, here, here, here, and here).
Got a tip? Click my byline above to send it along or submit it as a comment below. Follow my headlines on Twitter or subscribe to my RSS feed. Learn more about me or become a source via Linkedin, where all conversations are confidential.