It has been a busy week for joint ventures in the diagnostics industry, with Qiagen ($QGEN) teaming up with German outfit Biotype Diagnostics to create a new business geared toward companion diagnostic tests. Now, Luxembourg diagnostics company Eurofins is hopping on the JV bandwagon, shelling out $40 million to take a deeper dive into genetics with Emory University's Genetics Laboratory (EGL).
Under the terms of the deal, Eurofins will acquire a 75% stake in EGL, gaining access to the lab's testing facilities for rare and common genetic disorders. EGL runs more than 35,000 tests annually for genetic diseases, carrier screening and prenatal testing, and the lab leads the industry in gene panels for cancer testing, carrier testing and exome sequencing, Eurofins said in a statement. The lab also boasts a 100-member staff, and the company is hoping EGL's infrastructure, along with its genetic testing expertise, will help it build out its clinical diagnostic offerings.
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| Eurofins CEO Gilles Martin |
If all goes according to plan, the JV will generate revenues of more than $15 million for 2015, Eurofins said in a statement. The company will be known as "EGL Genetic Diagnostics, LLC, a joint venture company of Eurofins and Emory University," after the deal closes.
"This joint venture with world-renowned medical and scientific teams at Emory University strengthens Eurofins' growing footprint in the specialty clinical diagnostics market, and provides the group a truly unique platform to leverage its renowned competence in genomic testing to better serve the global healthcare community," Eurofins CEO Gilles Martin said in a statement.
Eurofins has been on an M&A streak as of late, striking deals to beef up its specialized diagnostic offerings. In December, the company snatched up Boston Heart Diagnostics for $140 million to get its hands on the company's cardiology tests. Earlier this month, Eurofins said it would hand over $50 million plus milestones for Huntsville, AL-based Diatherix Laboratories to make headway in infectious disease testing. -- Emily Wasserman (email | Twitter)