NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – In June, Veracyte entered into a loan and security agreement with an unnamed financial institution for term loans of up to $10.0 million in aggregate, the company said in its recent Form 10-Q filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In June, Veracyte, which went public in November, drew down $5 million in funds under the agreement. It is required to repay the outstanding principal in 30 equal installments starting 18 months after the date of the borrowing.
Upon execution of the agreement, Veracyte issued the financial institution a warrant to purchase shares of its Series C convertible preferred stock at $1.89 per share. At the time of the issuance, the aggregate fair value of the warrant for about 99,000 shares exercisable under the warrant was $175,000. Veractye may request a second term loan of up to $5.0 million on or before March 31, 2014.
Danaher's board has approved a regular quarterly dividend of $.025 per share payable on Jan. 31, 2014 to shareholders of record on Dec. 30.
Separately, the company also reaffirmed adjusted EPS guidance of between $.91 and $.96 for the fourth quarter and between $3.37 and $3.42 for full-year 2013. Additionally, it provided full-year 2014 adjusted EPS guidance of between $3.60 and $3.75. The guidance assumes core revenue growth of 2 percent to 4 percent. The consensus analyst EPS estimate for 2014 is $3.81.
Insight Genetics launched Insight Molecular labs, a CLIA-certified facility offering diagnostic tests for the identification of specific cancer biomarkers. The new facility provides clinical trial support services for targeted therapeutics, helps to identify appropriate patients for trials, and specializes in detecting and monitoring drug resistance in patients receiving certain cancer therapies, Insight Genetics said.
Quest Diagnostics this week reaffirmed that it expects its FY 2013 revenues to be 3.5 percent lower than the prior year. It also said that its adjusted earnings per share will be between $3.90 and $3.95, compared to a previous guidance range of $3.85 to $3.95.
RayBiotech has executed a formal master services and supply agreement with the Proteomics and Metabolomics Core Facility of Colorado State University. RayBiotech is providing biomarker discovery and characterization services based on the company's antibody array and ELISA technologies. Researchers at the university will receive preferred pricing as part of the agreement.
Biomatrica has appointed Cambio its distributor in the UK and Ireland. Biomatrica is based in San Diego and specializes in reagents and solutions for room temperature stabilization, shipment, and storage of DNA and RNA in samples. It also supplies PCR enhancement reagents.
Seahorse Bioscience and its dealer in Hangzhou, China called Bao-Cheng Biotechnology are providing scholarships to six graduate students to study at the College of Life Sciences at Zhejiang University. Students will use the Seahorse XF technology, which analyzes metabolic pathways, for their research projects.
In Brief This Week is a Friday column containing news items that our readers may have missed during the week.