Opko Health acquires Bio-Reference Labs for $1.47bn
Opko said it plans to leverage Bio-Reference’s national marketing, sales, and distribution resources to enhance sales of its 4Kscore test, a blood test that provides a patient’s specific personalized risk score for aggressive prostate cancer, as well as other diagnostic products under development.
Opko will also look to enhance the drug discovery and clinical programs of industry and academic scientists with Bio-Reference Laboratories’ genetic sequencing laboratory and its oncology and women’s health business units.
Phillip Frost, Opko’s Chairman and CEO, said Bio-Reference Laboratories has “the first commercial laboratory to offer next generation sequencing for rare disorders and almost a quarter of a million patients have benefited from these services including almost 20,000 patients who have undergone exome analysis. Their newly introduced sequencing services for use in oncology are both innovative and impressive.”
The diagnostic services of Opko will be merged with the Bio-Reference operations across the US, and Opko said it anticipates that Bio-Reference’s presence there will add distribution capabilities for Opko’s diagnostic services.
Marc Grodman, Bio-Reference Laboratories’ Chairman, CEO and President, added: “Bio-Reference Laboratories has accumulated a plethora of genetic and genomics data that will be invaluable to the drug discovery programs at OPKO and other drug developers. The Bio-Reference Laboratories data is diagnostic, or disease-related, and therefore provides an important connection between disease, treatment and cure.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, holders of Bio-Reference stock will receive 2.75 shares of Opko stock for each share of Bio-Reference stock. The companies expect the transaction to be completed during the second half of this year.
J.P. Morgan acted as the financial advisor to Opko, while Allen & Company acted as financial advisor to Bio-Reference.
