Dx test maker Quidel grabs BioHelix for $10M-plus

The deal is done. Diagnostic test maker Quidel ($QDEL) now officially owns BioHelix, a Beverly, MA maker of nucleic acid technology for molecular diagnostic tests. Quidel is paying $10 million in cash up front, plus more money depending on a number of development and sales milestones. BioHelix was spun off from New England Biolabs in 2009, and has been collaborating with Quidel to develop hand-held disposable molecular assays. Quidel, based in San Diego, CA, recently won a CE mark for a new molecular diagnostic designed to screen for herpes and also a virus that causes chicken pox and shingles. Release