NEW YORK – Quest Diagnostics announced on Wednesday the acquisition of genetic testing firm Blueprint Genetics in a deal it said will "broaden access to actionable insights in genetic and rare diseases, improving patient care and pharmaceutical drug research and development."
Details of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Helsinki, Finland, Blueprint was founded in 2012 and serves customers in more than 70 countries. Leveraging next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics methods, it provides 3,900 targeted single-gene and more than 200 panel tests covering 14 medical specialties.
Blueprint recently established a hub facility in Seattle, expanding its presence in the US. The acquisition by Quest allows Blueprint to leverage the Secaucus, New Jersey-based firm's NGS capabilities and US infrastructure, Quest said, adding Blueprint is expected to continue to operate "largely independently" from its Helsinki base. Its former CEO Tommy Lehtonen has agreed to lead Blueprint as vice president and general manager.
Lehtonen said in a statement that the deal "will allow us to extend our capabilities in the United States as well as in Canada and other countries where we already have strong and growing client relationships."
"Blueprint Genetics has developed a proven model for delivering highly specialized genetic insights that we believe we can scale to serve new patient populations with unmet clinical needs," Quest Chairman, President, and CEO Steve Rusckowski said in a statement. "The addition of Blueprint Genetics strengthens and extends the Quest value proposition in genetics, delivering on our accelerate growth strategy and vision of a healthier world."
The company added that the deal is expected to provide new capabilities to serve providers specializing in rare diseases and neurology, in particular pediatric and academic hospitals.