NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Qiagen announced this week that it has partnered with Swiss optical electronics firm Volpi to manufacture the GeneReader's automated fluorescence imaging module. Volpi optimized the GeneReader module at its precision engineering site in Zurich, Switzerland, and manufactures the module at its production facility in Auburn, New York.
CareDx announced this week that it has revised the terms of its acquisition offer to the shareholders of Allenex AB. Under the terms of the original agreement signed in December, three principal Allenex shareholders who collectively owned 78 percent of the company's outstanding shares agreed to tender those shares to CareDx for a combination of cash and CareDx common stock. The terms of the deal valued Allenex at approximately $35 million. The original terms stated that $6 million of the cash consideration would be made contingent on Allenex achieving certain commercial and financial milestones in 2016.
Under the revised terms, CareDx and the majority shareholders have agreed to defer the payment of these milestones until Mar. 31, 2017. CareDx will also issue the majority shareholders 150,000 additional shares of CareDx common stock. CareDx is also revising the cash and common stock alternative offered to the remaining 22 percent of Allenex shareholders by increasing the common stock component to 0.01458 CareDx shares per Allenex share from 0.01298.
Dovetail Genomics announced this week that it has begun accepting applications to its beta program for a planned metagenomic genome assembly service. The company has used its proprietary Chicago Method and a modified version of the HiRise Assembly Pipeline to develop a fast and efficient method for scaffolding microbial genomes using short-read sequence data from complex, metagenomic datasets.
The General Services Administration this week agreed to allow veterans and active military personnel to receive Genomind's Genecept Assay, a genetic test for mental health that aids in the treatment of PTSD, ADHD, and other mental disorders. Genomind has added eight more genes to the panel, bringing the total number of genes on the test to 18, Genomind said.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on the GenomeWeb site.