NEW YORK – Bio-Rad Laboratories has secured $200 million in an unsecured revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo. In an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm said on Feb. 14 that it repaid in full all outstanding obligations under the previous revolving credit agreement. The previous agreement was dated April 15, 2019, and included JPMorgan Chase Bank as administrative agent, as well as Bank of America, HSBC Bank, National Association, and MUFG Bank as co-syndication agents.
Danish diagnostics firm BioPorto this week announced that it has expanded its global distribution agreement with Roche Diagnostics to include Roche’s Cobas C 503 analyzer. The previous agreement included the distribution of BioPorto’s acute kidney injury test ProNephro AKI on Roche’s Cobas C 501 and Cobas C 502 analyzers. The assay received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration last year.
Chinese precision oncology testing company Genetron Health said this week that its shareholders have voted in favor of the previously announced proposal to merge parent company New Genetron Holding Limited and its subsidiary Genetron New Co Limited to create a new privately owned entity, Genetron Health. If and when completed, the company's American Depositary Shares (ADS), each representing 15 ordinary company shares, would no longer be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market, and the ADS program would be terminated. In addition, Genetron's ordinary shares would cease to be registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Genetron specializes in cancer molecular profiling for disease management, screening, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations and offers biopharma development services.
Thermo Fisher Scientific said this week that its board of directors authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $.39 per common share, payable on April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 15. This reflects an 11 percent increase over the previous dividend payment of $.35.
Danaher this week announced that its board of directors has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.27 per share of its common stock, payable on April 26 to shareholders of record on March 28.
Agilent Technologies' board of directors this week declared a quarterly dividend of $.24 per common share payable April 24 to all shareholders of record as of the close of the market on April 2.
Aptamer Group and Neuro-Bio said this week that they have entered the second phase of their ongoing partnership to develop a lateral flow test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Under the partnership, Aptamer Group is developing versions of its Optimer binder affinity reagents to detect a novel Alzheimer’s disease biomarker for the detection of the condition. The company previously identified Optimer binders to this marker and is now developing an additional binder against it.
Immunovia this week said that net sales for its fourth quarter fell to SEK 155,000 ($14,900) from SEK 502,000 ($48,400) a year ago. Sales figures for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2023, included only royalties, the firm said. It had a net loss of SEK 49.0 million, or SEK 1.08 per share, for the recently completed quarter compared to a net loss of SEK 67.3 million, or SEK 2.97 per share, a year ago.
For full-year 2023, the Swedish developer of diagnostics targeting pancreatic cancer posted SEK 1.6 million in sales compared to SEK 1.1 million in 2022. Its net loss for 2023 increased to SEK 309.4 million, or SEK 7.95 per share, compared to a net loss of SEK 168.1 million, or SEK 7.43 per share, in 2022. The company ended 2023 with SEK 76.8 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Swedish diagnostic firm Gradientech this week reported its Q4 and full-year 2023 financial results. Net sales for the quarter were SEK 376,000 ($36,411), down 55 percent from SEK 831,000 in the prior-year quarter. Net loss was SEK 17.8 million, or SEK 1.00 per share, compared to a loss of SEK 16.4 million, or SEK 1.03 per share, in Q4 2022. For the full year, sales were SEK 2.0 million, up from SEK 988,000 in 2022. Net loss was SEK 63.7 million, or SEK 3.64 per share, compared to a loss of SEK 61.0 million, or SEK 3.90 per share, in 2022. The firm ended the year with SEK 10.8 million in cash and cash equivalents.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on 360Dx.