OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR), a leader in point of care diagnostic tests and specimen collection and stabilization devices, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the outstanding equity of Diversigen in an all-cash transaction.
Diversigen is a privately held microbiome industry pioneer based in Houston, Texas. Diversigen provides science-driven, customized solutions for metagenomics sequencing, bioinformatics, and statistical analysis for the study of the microbiome. The company was founded in 2013 by Dr. Joseph Petrosino, director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), where Diversigen is a BCM portfolio company.
As the first company to establish microbiome protocols in accordance with College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation and Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) guidelines, Diversigen has a strong track record of supporting microbiome-focused clinical trials for big pharma customers, as well as thought-leading microbiome-focused biotech companies.
“Diversigen is a trailblazer in the microbiome arena. Their addition to the OraSure family of companies, which includes CoreBiome and DNA Genotek, positions us to be an industry leader and accelerates our innovation-driven growth trajectory,”
said Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., OraSure President & CEO.
“Ninety percent of Diversigen’s business is from big pharma and a leading microbiome therapeutic company is also a top customer,”
Dr. Tang continued.
“The powerful combination of Diversigen’s strength, expertise, and focus on customer service along with CoreBiome’s technical innovation in microbiome analysis and DNA Genotek’s innovative sampling kits gives us industry-leading product and service offerings from sampling to rich analytics to drive actionable insights. We are excited to unite these microbiome innovators whose unparalleled scientific bench and informatics strength is defining the evolving microbiome arena.”
“Since 2013 Diversigen has united the pioneering research efforts of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor and the microbiome discovery community to enable translation of microbiome science,”
said Diversigen founder Dr. Joseph Petrosino.
“We’re very excited to combine the CLIA and CAP-accredited microbiome work-flows we’ve developed at Baylor with the portfolio at OraSure. This union creates an organization that is unrivaled in its ability to support microbiome discovery and evolution.”
“Baylor College of Medicine is pleased to partner with OraSure in bringing innovative microbiome related services to the forefront of this evolving market,”
said Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor.
“The College’s innovative culture and commitment to translational discovery allows us to engage in strong relationships like this with OraSure to bring scientific discoveries to market at an accelerated pace.”
Financial Considerations
The transaction is structured to include an upfront cash payment of $12 million and the potential for an additional earn-out payment tied to revenue performance during 2019. The transaction is expected to close in the next several days.
About OraSure Technologies
OraSure Technologies is empowering the global community to improve health and wellness by providing access to accurate essential information. OraSure is a leader in the development, manufacture, and distribution of point-of-care diagnostic tests, molecular collection devices, and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. Its first-to-market, innovative products include rapid tests for the detection of antibodies to HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) on the OraQuick® platform, sample self-collection and stabilization products for molecular applications, and oral fluid laboratory tests for detecting various drugs of abuse. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries (DNA Genotek, CoreBiome, and Novosanis), OraSure provides its customers with value-added, end-to-end solutions that encompass tools, diagnostics and services. OraSure’s portfolio of products is sold globally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations, and other public health organizations, research institutions, distributors, government agencies, physicians’ offices, commercial, and industrial entities and consumers.