A Medical Device Daily

Qiagen N.V. (Venlo, the Netherlands), a provider of enabling technologies and products for the handling of nucleic acids and proteins, reported completing the acquisition of Tianwei Times (Beijing), a manufacturer and supplier of nucleic acid sample preparation consumables in China.

Qiagen said that the purchase expands its position as the leading supplier for products and technologies for preanalytical sample preparation in the rapidly growing China market. While the company reported close of the transaction, it noted that it still requires Chinese government approval.

Qiagen has acquired certain assets of Tianwei for about $2 million in cash, plus potential earn-outs over two years estimated at about $2 million.

Qiagen said it expects to incur one-time charges relating to the acquisition of less than $500,000 in 3Q05. Qiagen said it expects the purchased assets to contribute $1.5 to 2 million in sales of preanalytical and related products and approximately $300,000 in net income in 2006.

Tianwei currently employs about 50, a “substantial number” of these in R&D positions.

“Over the course of 2004, Qiagen significantly expanded its position in China,” said Peer Schatz, Qiagen’s CEO. “We established a focused, local marketing presence including an office in Shanghai and strengthened our distribution channels with Gene Co. as the major distributor. Tianwei will complement these activities with its research, manufacturing and marketing organization and will allow us to tailor preanalytical solutions for nucleic acids and proteins to meet the specific needs of the local scientific community.”

He added: “With its clear focus on scientific excellence and its strong reputation, Tianwei proved to be a perfect match to Qiagen ‘s strategic goals and will now serve as a base for the expansion of our presence and our research and manufacturing activities in this rapidly growing market.”

Dr. Chunxiang Wang, Tianwei’s founder, said, “We are very pleased and excited to join forces with the world’s leading provider of enabling technologies for preanalytical sample preparation to leverage this opportunity to further increase customer services and products customized for our users’ unique needs.”

Qiagen – with subsidiaries in the U.S., Germany, Japan, the UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Australia, Norway, Austria, Canada and Sweden – bills itself as is the world’s leading provider of enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins. It reports a portfolio of more than 320 consumable products, sold in more than 42 countries, for nucleic acid and protein separation, purification and handling, nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products and related services.

In other dealmaking activity: Cardiac Science (Irvine, California) and Quinton Cardiology Systems (Bothell, Washington) reported that they have received notification of the termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period from the Federal Trade Commission for their proposed merger.

Quinton – with additional operations in Deerfield, Wisconsin, and Shanghai, China – manufactures cardiology products such as electrocardiographs, cardiac stress test systems, Holter monitors, cardiac rehabilitation telemetry systems and cardiology data management systems used in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of patients with cardiovascular disease. It markets its products under the Quinton and Burdick brand names.

Cardiac Science – with additional operations in Minneapolis, Irvine and Lake Forest, California, Manchester, UK, and Copenhagen, Denmark – manufactures the Powerheart-brand automatic public-access defibrillators and makes the Powerheart CRM, calling it “the only FDA-cleared therapeutic patient monitor that instantly and automatically treats hospitalized cardiac patients who suffer life-threatening heart rhythms.”