NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Rosetta Genomics said today that it has agreed to sell its PersonalizeDx unit to healthcare business group Pragmin Prognosis for $2.9 million in cash.
PersonalizeDx offers a range of molecular diagnostics, including a suite of proprietary fluorescence in situ hybridization-based tests for prostate, bladder, and lung cancers, and maintains a CLIA lab in Lake Forest, California. Rosetta acquired the company in early 2015 for $2 million in cash, as well as 500,000 of its ordinary shares and undisclosed assets and services.
Since then, Rosetta has begun to shift its commercial focus onto its RosettaGx Reveal microRNA-based thyroid nodule classification assay, and said earlier this year it was looking to sell PersonalizeDx as part of that refocusing effort. The company has also been looking to trim costs and recently announced plans for layoffs and discretionary spending cuts.
Rosetta said that it expects to close the sale of PersonalizeDx to Pragmin in the next several weeks. Of the total acquisition price, $1.25 million will be paid at closing with the remainder paid over time. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"This divestiture will provide us with non-dilutive cash and allows us to reduce operating expenses in order to permit the Rosetta organization to truly focus on our leading Reveal test," Rosetta President and CEO Kenneth Berlin said in a statement.