Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Qiagen Acquires Remaining Stake in NeuMoDx Molecular for $248M

NEW YORK – Qiagen said after the close of the market on Thursday that it has acquired the remaining approximately 80 percent of diagnostics developer NeuMoDx Molecular that it did not already own for $248 million in cash.

Qiagen said it completed the transaction after receiving US regulatory clearance for the full acquisition. In 2018, Qiagen had purchased a 19.9 percent stake in Ann Arbor, Michigan-based NeuMoDx along with the right to acquire the remaining shares at a price of $234 million. The final payment price of $248 million includes customary purchase price adjustments for cash, indebtedness, and transaction costs.

As stipulated in the 2018 agreement, Qiagen has also been distributing the high-throughput NeuMoDx 288 and medium-throughput NeuMoDx 96 diagnostic testing platforms in Europe and other markets outside the US.

The NeuMoDx 288 and 96 systems combine patented extraction technologies, microfluidics, and silicon-based thermal cycling for fully automated, sample-to-answer, random-access molecular testing. Each system can process both commercial assays and laboratory-developed tests.

The test menus for both NeuMoDx platforms already include 13 CE-IVD-marked assays for different infectious diseases. These include a dedicated COVID-19 test, which has also received US Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization in the US. NeuMoDx has also received FDA clearance for a group B Streptococcus test on the platforms.

A new multiplex test for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2 is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2020, Qiagen said. This assay would complement a Qiagen respiratory panel that runs on its QiaStat-Dx syndromic testing system, includes these targets alongside more than a dozen others, and received CE marking and FDA EUA earlier this year.

Last month, Thermo Fisher Scientific's planned acquisition of Qiagen was scuttled as only approximately 47 percent of Qiagen's shareholders tendered their shares.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.