NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Transgenomic today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Genetic Assays and Platforms business unit, the second sale of one of its businesses in less than a month in order to focus on its molecular diagnostics operations.
The Omaha, Nebraska firm is selling the GAP business to privately held Japanese biotech firm Adstec, which is expected to pay Transgenomic $300,000 for existing stock and inventory related to the GAP business. Adstec will also assume the business, financial, and human resource commitments of the business without payment to Transgenomic.
As part of the deal, Transgenomic has agreed to transfer rights to its GAP products, licenses, technology, know-how, and trademarks, as well as associated product inventory to Adstec, which imports, manufactures, engineers, and sells image-related equipment and specialized instruments.
Transgenomic's GAP employees, as well as its sites in Glasgow, UK and Irvington, Nebraska should transition to Adstec, it said.
The deal is expected to cut Transgenomic's quarterly expenses by about $1.2 million, it said, and is anticipated to close by the end of October.
The GAP business contains the firm's major remaining legacy business, Transgenomic President and CEO Paul Kinnon said in a statement, which has required significant management and employee time and focus. Divesting the business will allow the company to focus its resources on "growing our high-potential products for molecular diagnostics and precision medicine, based on our highly innovative ICE COLD-PCR technology and state-of-the-art expertise," he said.
Adstec has been the supplier to the GAP business's Hanabi product line, Kinnon added, and the deal will ensure that its customers will continue to be served and its workers will continue to have employment.
"Following the closing of the transaction, we expect to dedicate all of our corporate resources on growing our high-potential molecular diagnostics products and services and accelerating commercialization of our MX-ICP technology for liquid biopsies and precision medicine," Kinnon said.
The planned deal follows the sale three weeks ago of Transgenomic's ion chromatography product line and all related assets to Edge Biosystems for about $2.1 million. Additionally, Transgenomic sold its Surveyor Nuclease technology and assets to Integrated DNA Technologies a year ago for at least $4.25 million.