Agilent ($A) has closed the deal it announced last month, paying $2.2 billion for Denmark's Dako, a cancer diagnostics firm.
Dako will fold into Agilent's newly created diagnostics and genomics group, The Associated Press reports, and the deal is designed to augment Agilent's scientific instrument business by cashing in on Dako's in-progress partnerships with pharma companies. "Agilent's strategy in acquiring Dako is about strengthening the company's presence in life science, and about revenue growth," CEO Bill Sullivan said in announcing the deal.
The Scandinavian diagnostics firm pulled in $340 million in revenue last year, and Agilent is eyeing bigger gains in the future. Dako has said it is working with drugmakers to develop companion diagnostics for targeted cancer treatments in the pipeline, a field that has thus far proved profitable for other companies.
Agilent isn't alone in its rosy evaluation of the future of companion diagnostics. Genomic Health and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals have teamed up to develop treatment-specific tests, and Qiagen ($QGEN) has posted a positive first quarter on the heels of its acquisitions in the companion diagnostics field. Roche ($RHHBY), for its part, has moved on from its failed bid for Illumina ($ILMN) by redoubling its in-house Dx efforts, committing $300 million to expand its Indiana diagnostics headquarters.
- read the AP report