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Invitae Completes Acquisition of ArcherDx

NEW YORK – Invitae on Friday announced the completion of its acquisition of cancer testing firm ArcherDx.

The merger, which Invitae announced in June, adds tumor profiling and liquid biopsy technologies for predicting and monitoring therapeutic response to Invitae's service offerings. Prior to the ArcherDX acquisition, Invitae only provided germline cancer genetic testing.  

"With the addition of ArcherDX's technologies, capabilities and team, Invitae is now well positioned to accelerate the utilization of genetic information throughout a cancer patient's journey," Invitae CEO Sean George said in a statement. "Starting from risk profiling and diagnostic testing, moving to therapy optimization, monitoring and recurrence surveillance, Invitae can deliver the information needed to enable best-in-class personalized cancer care."

Under the terms of the deal, Invitae acquired ArcherDx for $325 million in cash and 30 million shares of Invitae stock upfront. Additionally, Invitae may pay up to 27 million in shares of its common stock if certain milestones are met. The overall transaction is valued at around $1.4 billion.

In connection with the acquisition, Invitae borrowed $135.0 million under the credit agreement and guaranty with Perceptive Credit Opportunities Holdings III. The company has also issued to Perceptive warrants to purchase 1 million shares of Invitae's common stock. Separately, to help pay for the acquisition, Invitae sold 16.3 million shares of common stock for $275 million to certain accredited investors in a private placement.

Jason Myers, formerly ArcherDx CEO, was also appointed to Invitae's board of directors on Oct. 2 as part of the transaction. He will serve as president of oncology at Invitae.

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