NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Qiagen said after the close of the market Thursday that it has acquired AmniSure International, a privately held point-of-care diagnostics firm, for an undisclosed amount.
Boston-based AmniSure sells an assay for determining whether a pregnant woman is suffering rupture of fetal membranes. Qiagen said as many as 30 percent of pregnant women are checked for this condition in clinical settings.
The AmniSure test is cleared for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration and is prescribed by obstetricians and gynecologists, who also conduct human papillomavirus screening. Qiagen already targets these physicians with its own sales force that sells the digene HPV test.
The deal also adds to Qiagen's efforts to grow its point-of-need diagnostics business, which includes its ESE Quant Lateral Flow Readers and Tube Scanners. Qiagen also is developing a point-of-need molecular diagnostic platform for use in resource-poor regions of the world. It said earlier today that it has joined a global initiative to develop affordable and portable molecular diagnostics for such markets.
The acquisition is expected to be neutral to Qiagen's adjusted diluted earnings per share for 2012 but accretive by around $.02 for 2013. AmniSure is expected to contribute revenues of approximately $12 million for the remainder of this year and $24 million in 2013.
Qiagen said that it will take a one-time charge of $5 million associated with the acquisition, which closed this week.