NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Qiagen today said that it has completed the acquisition of all of the ordinary shares of Melbourne, Australia-based Cellestis for A$3.80 (US$4.04) per share.
The US$374 million acquisition was completed following the approval of the deal by Cellestis' shareholders earlier this month.
The acquisition provides Qiagen with access to Cellestis' QuantiFeron technology for detecting and monitoring disease, including the commercially available QuantiFeron-TB Gold-in-Tube test for latent tuberculosis, as well as the Quantiferon-CMV test for cytomegalovirus, which is in the early stages of commercialization.
In April, when the proposed acquisition was announced, Qiagen CEO Peer Schatz said in a statement, "We believe next-generation DNA- and RNA-based molecular testing can benefit from greater use of QuantiFeron technology, which has a unique ability to identify patients at risk from potentially life-threatening diseases."