NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Caliper Life Sciences expects to divest additional pieces of its business — with total revenues of between $10 million and $25 million — over the next couple of years, President and CEO Kevin Hrusovsky said last week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.
Last month, Caliper sold its Xenogen Biosciences subsidiary, which provides in vivo pre-clinical CRO services, to Taconic Farms for approximately $11 million. The divestiture is part of its plans to shed businesses that are not part of the firm's core operations.
Hrusovsky said during a Q&A session following his presentation that the divestitures would likely center on some automation and/or robotics products in the firm's portfolio. He pointed out that such divestitures would be time-phased over the next two years, and that such actions would coincide with new revenues replacing those products.
The company is eyeing the expansion of its IVIS imaging and LabChip microfluidics platforms, which together account for around 70 percent of Caliper's revenues, into new applications. In particular, Hrusovsky cited the LabChip's use by a handful of molecular diagnostic companies and the upcoming launch of its chip for fractionation in next-generation sequencing applications. He also said that a new liquid handler could bring growth back to its automation line, which has struggled over recent quarters.
Hrusovsky said that by 2013, Caliper's revenues for its IVIS imaging products could reach $100 million annually, while its LabChip revenues could be around $30.5 million.
Last week, Caliper released a statement saying that it expects its fourth-quarter 2009 revenues to be $37.6 million, higher than its previous guidance of between $33 million and $35 million for the quarter. Analysts, on average, had predicted revenues of $34.5 million. The firm expects full-year revenues to be $130.3 million, which includes revenues from the recently divested business.