NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – OraSure Technologies announced today that it has agreed to acquire early-stage microbiome services provider CoreBiome and urine sample collection device developer Novosanis.
The transactions are structured with an upfront payment and potential additional payments based on future performance. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. The deals are expected to close within the next week.
Minnesota-based CoreBiome is a privately held firm that provides services for microbiome research for customers in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and research communities. The company's technology, as well as its genomics and informatics pipelines, provide information-rich characterization of microbial diversity and function paired with machine learning and expert analytics, OraSure said. CoreBiome was cofounded in 2016 by Dan Knights, Daryl Gohl, and Kenny Beckman.
"The global microbiome market is expected to grow by double digits from approximately $325 million in 2017 to $725 million or more in 2022," OraSure President and CEO Stephen Tang said in a statement. "Expanding our services through the CoreBiome acquisition will allow OraSure to optimally address future microbiome research needs, capture new segments, and expand our leadership position in this dynamic market."
CoreBiome's BoosterShot platform allows researchers to efficiently run high-resolution DNA sequencing on thousands of microbiome samples, Knights noted in the statement. "This means investigators can now measure important changes often missed in under-powered studies. CoreBiome's bioinformatics platform uses machine learning and advanced data visualization to help customers leverage that big data and to make world-class microbiome expertise available on demand," he added.
Novosanis, also a privately held company, was founded as a spinoff from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, in 2013. The firm is an early commercial-stage producer and distributor of urine sample collection devices targeted primarily at the liquid biopsy, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, and urological cancer markets, OraSure said.
Novosanis' primary product is Colli-Pee, a device designed for the standardized collection of first-void urine at home or in the clinic. The initial commercial application is as a collection device for liquid biopsy tests in the prostate and bladder cancer markets. Product validation and clinical trials are also underway with STI test manufacturers.
"The Novosanis acquisition represents a clear fit in our stated 'core growth strategy' for our molecular business — to grow our portfolio of collection products beyond oral samples by leveraging expertise in collection and stabilization tools and technologies — all of which can be used at home or in the clinic," Tang said. "The Colli-Pee urine collection device has utility in high-growth markets, including liquid biopsy and STI diagnostics where OraSure can leverage its existing intellectual property, brand, and market expertise to deliver even more value to existing, and new, molecular customers."
OraSure expects the acquisitions to contribute a total of about $4 million to $7 million in net revenues in 2019, with $.03 to $.05 per share of dilution to non-GAAP earnings, excluding transaction costs and required acquisition accounting adjustments.
The company also reaffirmed its previous guidance for the fourth quarter of 2018, and continues to expect net revenues of $46.5 million to $48.0 million and net income of $.09 to $.11 per share.
OraSure's shares were up less than 1 percent to $11.49 in Friday morning trading on the Nasdaq.