Roche acquire GenMark in $1.8 billion deal
pharmafile | March 15, 2021 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Diagnostics, GenMark, Roche
Pharmaceutical giant Roche have bought GenMark Diagnostics in a deal worth $1.8 billion, expanding their infectious disease testing for illnesses including respiratory and bloodstream infections.
The agreement will add GenMark’s tests to Roche’s current molecular diagnostics portfolio. It will also make further use of GenMark’s ePlex system, which uses order-to-reporting workflow to quickly diagnose a patient’s symptoms; the platform allows earlier detection of the cause of infection in order to improve patient outcomes and shorten the length of hospital stay.
As well as this, GenMark’s Respiratory Pathogen Panels – which identify the most common viral and bacterial organisms associated with upper respiratory infection, including COVID-19 – will now complement Roche’s current portfolio of diagnostic tests for the virus.
Under the terms of the merger, Roche will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of GenMark’s common stock, and GenMark will file a recommendation statement containing the unanimous recommendation of the board that stockholders tender their shares to Roche.
Thomas Schinecker, CEO of Roche Diagnostics, said: “Acquiring GenMark Diagnostics will broaden our molecular diagnostics portfolio to include solutions that can provide lifesaving information quickly to patients and their healthcare providers in the fight against infectious diseases.
“Their proven expertise in syndromic panel testing provides faster targeted therapeutic intervention. The rapid identification of bloodstream infections and the detection of antimicrobial resistance genes are more essential than ever for hospitals and their patients.”
Scott Mendel, CEO of GenMark Diagnostics, added: “As a part of Roche, we can accelerate our mission to enable rapid diagnosis of infectious disease to improve patient outcomes. Together with Roche’s diagnostics healthcare solutions, we will be able to provide a full suite of molecular diagnostic solutions to customers around the world.”
Jack Goddard
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