NEW YORK, Sept. 20 – Sequenom and Gemini Genomics have completed their stock-for-stock merger that has been in the works since May, the companies announced on Thursday.
Sequenom, based in San Diego, nabbed Gemini Genomics for an as-yet undisclosed amount in stock in an attempt to boost its drug-development and clinical capabilities. The total dollar amount of the deal, originally said to be about $238 million, "is an open issue at the moment," a Sequenom spokesman said.
The new company, which will be called Sequenom, will comprise two business units—Sequenom Genomics, made up of Sequenom's MassArray SNP genotyping equipment business, and Sequenom Biotherapeutics, which will include Sequenom's drug target-discovery operations and all of Gemini Genomics' clinical genomics operations.
“We believe the combined expertise in genotyping analysis and clinical genomics will allow Sequenom to lead the race to find the genes associated with human health and disease,” Toni Schuh, Sequenom’s CEO, said in a statement.
As GenomeWeb reported , Sequenom and Gemini Genomics have already identified 115 candidate disease genes using population genetics and SNP genotyping. By the middle of next year, Sequenom said, the initiative's leaders hope to have identified 400 such candidate genes.
"With the recent release of information about the human genome into the public domain, it is clearer than ever that the race to diagnostic and disease gene-based drug target discovery and commercialization is time-limited," Paul Kelly, president and CEO of Cambridge, UK-based Gemini Genomics, said in August. "This merger will enable our combined organization to move more rapidly in the ongoing endeavor of identifying the medical relevance of genomic data."
Under the transaction, holders of Gemini Genomics’ ordinary shares will receive 0.2 of a share of newly issued Sequenom common stock in exchange for each ordinary share of Gemini Genomics, the companies said in a statement on Thursday. Holders of Gemini Genomics American Depository Shares will get 0.4 of a share of newly issue Sequenom common stock in exchange for each Gemini Genomics ADS.