A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

In vitro diagnostics firm bioMerieux (Marcy-L'Etoile, France), said it has signed an agreement to sell its hemostasis range of products to Trinity Biotech (Dublin, Ireland).

The line includes the MDA, MTX and Thrombolyzer platforms, as well as a comprehensive menu of reagents to analyze blood-clotting parameters. bioMerieux ranks fourth in the global hemostasis market, achieving EUR 45 million sales in 2005.

The company said the transaction fits its strategic commitment to focus on operations related to infectious diseases, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, as well as to industrial applications.

The total value of the deal could amount to nearly $60 million, including the proceeds from assets sold, receivables to be collected and $5.5 million contingent on meeting the business's 2006 objectives.

The deal is expected to close before June 30. bioMerieux will manufacture the products on behalf of Trinity Biotech for a 12-month transition period.

"Trinity Biotech is a leading provider of hemostasis solutions," said bioMerieux executive vice president Benoit Adelus, "and we are very pleased that this agreement will allow our customers to continue to enjoy high-quality service. It will also enable bioMerieux to consolidate its expansion around its strategic product ranges."

bioMerieux focuses on in vitro diagnostics for clinical and industrial applications. Clinical applications include the diagnosis of infectious diseases such as hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses, as well as pathologies such as certain cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.

Inverness adds China facility

Diagnostics manufacturer Inverness Medical Innovations (Waltham, Massachusetts) said it has acquired a newly constructed manufacturing facility in Hangzhou, China, as part of its acquisition of ACON Laboratories' (San Diego) business of researching, developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling lateral flow immunoassay products in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Israel, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Inverness paid ACON about $20 million, including 417,446 shares of Inverness common stock to acquire the new facility. The aggregate purchase price for the acquired business, including the manufacturing facility, is expected to be about $175 million based upon a multiple of revenue and pre-tax profits of the acquired business.

The remaining payments under the agreement with ACON, which are expected to be about $80 million, are contingent upon completion of certain milestones related to achievement of functional manufacturing operations in certain territories and regulatory clearance in Spain and Portugal. Some $20 million of the remaining payments will be made through the issuance of Inverness common stock, with the balance payable in cash.

The sale of the new manufacturing facility was triggered when the parties agreed that the facility was fully functional with respect to the first substantial product and the facility is now producing several of the drugs-of-abuse testing products acquired by Inverness from ACON.

The remaining products acquired from ACON are expected to be transitioned to the new facility during the remainder of 2006.

ACON Laboratories retains its existing manufacturing facility, also in Hangzhou.

MedMira HIV test okayed in China

MedMira (Halifax, Nova Scotia), a maker of rapid diagnostic solutions, said it has received approval from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China for its MiraWell Rapid HIV Test (MiraWell HIV) for use with whole-blood specimens.

MedMira's test is the first and only whole-blood rapid HIV test to fulfill the clinical requirements of the Chinese regulatory body. The test offers users instant results and has a shelf life of two years at room temperature storage.

"We are pleased to receive fast-tracked approval of our whole-blood rapid HIV test and view this as another major step taken by the government to stop the spread of HIV infection in China," said Stephen Sham, chairman and CEO of MedMira.

The MiraWell HIV test for use with serum/plasma was initially approved by the SFDA in 2003 and since that time has faced many domestic competitors in the China market. The company said it pursued whole-blood approval to differentiate itself in the marketplace and meet the growing demand for rapid point-of-care testing.

With whole-blood approval now in place, MedMira said it intends to develop market opportunities in the over-the-counter sector for further penetration into China.

Sham said, "Our goal is to bring easy-to-use, quality rapid diagnostics closer to the patient. With whole-blood approval in China, we can now offer a lab-focused product as well as point-of-care tests. Soon, we will pursue the over-the-counter market, building on our experience gained in Hong Kong and Macao, where we have sold rapid HIV tests in pharmacies since early 2005."

South Korean cancer diagnostic accord

Oncotech (Tustin, California), a provider of cellular and genomic information to oncologists to individualize chemotherapy, reported an agreement with Innocell, a cancer diagnostics and immunotherapy company in South Korea. Under the agreement, Innocell has been granted the rights to market Oncotech's cancer diagnostic services to South Korean physicians and cancer patients.

More than 5,000 physicians and some 1,000 hospitals in the U.S. already have utilized Oncotech's cancer testing services. In South Korea, the overall incidence for cancer is in excess of 100,000 patients per year.

Frank Kiesner, president and CEO of Oncotech, said, "Our relationship with Innocell will allow us to gain entry into the South Korean market with this initial launch into Asia and in the future our laboratory services will be offered to other Asian markets through additional agreements and affiliations."

Dr. Hyun Jin Jung, president and CEO of Innocell, said, "Through this collaboration, we can contribute to prolonging the life and improving the quality of life for Korean cancer patients."

Kumars leads Applied Biosystems in Asia Pacific

Applied Biosystems (Foster City, California) has appointed TLV Kumar president for its Asia Pacific operations, based in Hong Kong.

An executive with experience throughout the Asia Pacific region, Kumar joins Applied Biosystems from Philips Medical Systems, where he was chief operations officer for Asia Pacific.

Kumar will be responsible for executing the company's growth strategies throughout the region, with oversight of all marketing, sales, product management, customer service, supply chain, purchasing, quality, regulatory and business excellence activities.

An Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut) business, Applied Biosystems is a developer of instrument-based systems, consumables, software and services for the life sciences industry.

Applied Biosystems has operations throughout Asia Pacific, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 nations that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

For the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the Asia Pacific region contributed $252 million or about 18% of Applied Biosystems global revenues.