NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Intrexon has entered into a definitive agreement to buy bovine genetics firm Trans Ova Genetics for up to $110 million. Shareholders will receive $60 million in upfront cash, $30 million in Intrexon stock, and up to $20 million in deferred payments. Trans Ova will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intrexon upon completion of the transaction, which is expected in the third quarter, and will be led by David Faber, currently Trans Ova's president, and his management team. The company recorded $63.3 million in revenues and $4.9 million in net income in Fiscal Year 2013.
Gene therapy firm Bluebird Bio has acquired gene editing and cell signaling technology shop Precision Genome Engineering (Pregenen). Pregenen's former shareholders received 408,667 shares of Bluebird's stock at closing. Bluebird also paid or assumed about $4.9 million of current liabilities of Pregenen and its stakeholders. Pregenen's former shareholders are eligible to receive up to an addition $15 million in cash if certain preclinical milestones are met, as well as $20.1 million in cash if certain clinical milestones are fulfilled, and $99.9 million in cash contingent upon the achievement of certain commercial milestones with respect to product candidates identified using Pregenen's technology.
Bio-Techne has acquired Novus Biologicals for $60 million in cash. Novus is a Littleton, Colo.-based supplier of outsourced and in-house developed antibodies and other reagents for life science research.
Genesis Genetics has opened a state-of-the-art clinical and research laboratory in London, where its researchers will focus on the genetics of microbiological samples and develop methods of adapting its discoveries into practical applications for patient healthcare. The London lab is the ninth worldwide location for Genesis Genetics, which is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich.
Enzo Biochem has been added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 Indexes following the reconstitution of the Russell Investment Group's US indexes. The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3,000 US companies. The Russell 2000 Index measures the small-cap segment of the US equity market and is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index.
CeGaT said this week that N-of-One will provide clinical interpretation for its next-gen sequencing tests for cancer patients. CeGaT has developed an NGS panel to analyze more than 550 cancer-relevant genes in a tumor simultaneously. Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In Brief This Week is a Friday column containing news items that our readers may have missed during the week.