NEW YORK – Trinity Biotech said Friday that it is acquiring prostate cancer test developer EpiCapture Limited for $3 million and up to $500,000 in additional milestone-based payments in a deal that will help Trinity enter the oncology diagnostics market.
Dublin-based Trinity said that it plans to commercialize in the US EpiCapture's urine-based epigenetic test for detecting DNA methylation patterns associated with high-grade cancer to monitor prostate cancer patients. Trinity will consider regulatory pathways to bring the test into other markets, as well. The firm noted that previous study results show that the test can be used in conjunction with prostate-specific antigen tests to predict which patients have high-grade cancers.
Trinity said that the initial $3 million price for the acquisition is being paid through the issuance of 1.7 million Trinity Biotech American Depository Shares. EpiCapture is a spinout of University College Dublin through its NovaUCD innovation hub.
"This move supports our strategy of combining Trinity's established capabilities with cutting-edge technologies to address large scale, urgent and important clinical issues," Trinity Biotech CEO John Gillard said in a statement. "In this case, our manufacturing expertise and New York State Department of Health-certified Immco reference laboratory will enable us to advance the development and commercialization of EpiCapture's epigenetic analysis technology, an innovative solution with the potential to significantly impact the clinical management of prostate cancer, providing a less invasive and more accurate method of monitoring disease progression."
Trinity separately announced on Friday that it had acquired a 12.5 percent equity stake in Novus Diagnostics in a deal worth about $2.5 million and financed through the issuance of 1.4 million Trinity Biotech American Depository Shares. Novus has been developing a 15-minute sepsis test that uses antibody-imprinted sensors and an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy system.
Trinity also announced last month that it was acquiring Metabolomics Diagnostics in a $1.3 million deal that would let Trinity commercialize a prognostic test for preeclampsia.