NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – American Liberty Petroleum Corp. has announced plans to acquire Avant Diagnostics, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company seeking to commercialize OvaDx, a microarray-based test for early stage ovarian cancer detection.
According to an 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, American Liberty Petroleum Corp. has signed a letter of intent to buy Avant for an undisclosed sum. The companies expect the deal to close on or about Oct. 1.
American Liberty Petroleum Corp. is a publicly traded, Houston-based company with interests in the Gulf Coast oil and gas services business segment. While Avant's focus is on molecular diagnostics, American Liberty Petroleum Corp. sees the acquisition as an opportunity to deliver value it its shareholders.
American Liberty Petroleum Corp. CEO Robert Rhodes said in a statement that following the acquisition, his company intends to accelerate development of OvaDx, as well as to initiate the development of new tests.
According to the firm's 8-K, the acquisition will also result in a new board of directors and new management team for Avant Diagnostics. Its letter of intent to acquire Avant also stipulates the arrangement of certain consulting contracts, a 1-for-17 reverse split of the shares of American Liberty Petroleum Corp., and the reauthorization of 450 million common stock shares.
Avant was originally founded as Arrayit Diagnostics by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based microarray vendor Arrayit, and on March 31 it filed a lawsuit in Arizona State Court against Arrayit, accusing its former parent company, which retains a minority stake in Avant, of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and other cases of action.
However, the parties settled the case on Aug. 6, with Arrayit CEO Rene Schena and President Mark Schena joining Avant's board of directors, Arrayit retaining the right to manufacture the OvaDx test, and Avant retaining its right to sell and market OvaDx upon US Food and Drug Administration clearance.
Under the terms of the Aug. 6 settlement, Avant stood to lose its right to commercialize OvaDx should it not become a publicly traded company within one year of the agreement, with all commercialization rights set to revert back to Arrayit.