NEW YORK – Agilent Technologies said this week that it is acquiring Canadian contract development and manufacturing firm Biovectra in a $925 million deal that will bolster Agilent's capabilities for its biopharma customers. Prince Edward Island-based Biovectra specializes in the production of biologics and complex chemistry products that are used in targeted therapies by mid- and large-size pharma customers in North America and Europe. Agilent said that the acquisition provides it with Biovectra's sterile fill-and-finish services, plasmid DNA and mRNA capabilities, liquid nanoparticle formulation operations, and gene-editing support services as well as expertise in fast-growing segments such as antibody-drug conjugates, highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients, and glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists. The deal is expected to close before 2025. Agilent predicts that the acquisition will be $.05 dilutive to its non-GAAP earnings per share in the first full year following closing.
GeneCentric Therapeutics announced this week that it has received a proprietary laboratory analysis code from the American Medical Association for its RNA expression-based PurIST pancreatic cancer test that is licensed to Tempus AI and runs on Tempus' xR platform. The PLA code is the first CPT code created to describe an algorithm-only analysis from previously sequenced transcriptomic data, GeneCentric said in a statement. The assay identifies the molecular subtype of patients with unresectable stage III or stage IV pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and classifies those patients into either a basal or classical subtype.
In its Form 10-Q filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week, Danaher disclosed that it acquired an undisclosed business for $12 million in cash during the first half of 2024. The business complements existing units of Danaher's life sciences segment, and its annual sales were less than $3 million, the firm noted.
Invitae announced this week that it is sponsoring genetic testing through a program called Unlock Behind the Seizure for individuals in the United States who are under the age of 18 and have experienced an unprovoked seizure. The testing will come at no charge to the patients themselves, and Invitae hopes that any insights into epilepsy’s underlying genetic causes will contribute to more effective precision therapy options for that disorder.
Swedish molecular diagnostics developer Devyser Diagnostics said this week that its second quarter net sales grew 41 percent year over year to SEK 53.2 million ($4.9 million) from SEK 37.7 million. Factoring in exchange rate fluctuations, net sales were up 40 percent year over year, the company said. Devyser had a loss after tax of SEK 22.9 million, or SEK 1.41 per share, compared to a loss of SEK 14.6 million, or SEK .90 per share, a year ago.
ObvioHealth, a digital clinical trials company, said this week that it has received a strategic investment of an undisclosed amount from cancer testing company Guardant Health. The investment caps off Singapore-based ObvioHealth's series B financing extension totaling $18.4 million, strengthens the company's oncology expertise, and enables streamlined deployment of oncology clinical trials, it said in a statement. ObvioHealth markets ObvioGo 2.0, a digital clinical trial platform designed to streamline and automate clinical workflows for trial sites.
Revvity said this week that its board of directors has authorized a quarterly dividend of $.07 per common share, payable on Nov. 8, 2024, to shareholders of record as of Oct. 18, 2024.
This week BD said that its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $.95 per share of common stock, to be paid on Sept. 30 to stockholders of record as of Sept. 9. In addition, the firm said the indicated annual dividend rate is $3.80 per share.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.