NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Rosetta Genomics announced today that it has agreed to acquire CynoGen, a molecular diagnostics laboratory doing business as PersonalizeDx, for $2 million in cash plus stock.
Through the deal, Rosetta will pick up PersonalizeDx's portfolio of proprietary fluorescence in situ hybridization-based tests for prostate, bladder, and lung cancers, as well as a CLIA lab in Lake Forest, Calif.
“In joining forces with PersonalizeDx, Rosetta Genomics will gain critically important commercial and revenue scale in the marketplace for oncology diagnostics," Rosetta President and CEO Kenneth Berlin said in a statement. "[W]e look forward to combining their assays and biomarkers with our current and future microRNA-based and other assays."
Rosetta said that the expanded commercial capabilities of the combined company is expected to help the launch of its miRNA-based thyroid assay, which is designed to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules, later this year.
Rosetta also anticipates product synergies in urologic and lung cancers, such as with the addition of PersonalizeDx's FISH and molecular markers for lung cancer and Rosetta's Lung Cancer Test.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rosetta will pay $2 million in cash and 500,000 of its ordinary shares for PersonalizeDx, as well as provide certain undisclosed assets and services to the seller.
Shares of Rosetta were trading up more than 15 percent at around $3.40 a share midday on the Nasdaq.
Rosetta said that it is buying PersonalizeDx from Prelude Corp., a portfolio company owned by Fjord Ventures. The deal, the company added, is contingent on Prelude's purchase of PersonalizeDx from it current owner, Abbott.
In connection with the transaction, Rosetta said it would also acquire Prelude's assay for ductal carcinoma in situ.
With the addition of PersonalizeDx, Rosetta said that it anticipates its 2015 revenues to be in the range of $10 million to $12 million, and 2016 revenues to exceed $18 million. The company also said it expects to achieve positive EBITDA and positive cash flow from operations before the end of 2017.
Rosetta said that the PersonalizeDx acquisition will likely close in the next several weeks.