NEW YORK—Veracyte said on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire French immuno-oncology diagnostics firm HalioDx for €260 million (about $318 million) to expand its global cancer diagnostic market reach.
South San Francisco, California-based Veracyte said it expects the acquisition will accelerate its in vitro diagnostic test development and manufacturing operations in Europe. Veracyte also plans to transition manufacturing of its nCounter diagnostic platform kits, currently produced by NanoString, to HalioDx's manufacturing facility in Marseille, France.
Veracyte said that HalioDx's Immunogram multimodal analysis platform offers pipeline development opportunities in multiple clinical indications and can help grow Veracyte's biopharma partnering business. In addition, HalioDx's Immunoscore test — which helps guide treatment decisions in colorectal cancer — will expand Veracyte's access to eight of the 10 top cancers in the US.
Upon closing of the transaction, which is expected in the third quarter, HalioDx will become a subsidiary of Veracyte, with its operations and laboratories remaining in Marseille and Richmond, Virginia.
Veracyte will pay about €260 million in total consideration to HalioDx security holders, consisting of about €147 million in cash and up to approximately €113 million in stock.
The number of issued Veracyte shares will be based on a 10-day volume-weighted trading average of the firm's shares prior to the closing date. Veracyte also has the option to substitute cash in lieu of shares up to the entire acquisition consideration.
Goldman Sachs is serving as financial adviser to Veracyte, and Fenwick & West and Latham & Watkins are serving as the firm's legal advisers in the US and France, respectively. Shearman & Sterling is serving as legal adviser to HalioDx.
"The transaction gives us the opportunity to significantly accelerate the scale and scope of our offerings and continue investing in our innovative Immunogram multimodal analysis platform, which is proven in its ability to help biopharma partners understand and predict patient response to immunotherapy," Vincent Fert, chairman and CEO of HalioDx, said in a statement.
Veracyte expects the acquisition to be accretive to its revenue growth in 2021 and to widen the near-term addressable markets for its current and pipeline tests.