Bruker Corporation today announced that is has completed the acquisition of an 80% majority interest in Hain Lifescience GmbH, based in Nehren, Germany. Hain is an infectious disease specialist with a broad range of molecular diagnostics solutions for the detection of microbial and viral pathogens, as well as for molecular antibiotic resistance testing. Bruker had previously announced an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Hain on August 24, 2018, with options for the remaining 20% equity interest held by the Hain founders exercisable in or after 2022. Financial details were not disclosed.
In addition to the highly-regarded, established Hain GenoType™ MDx product portfolio, Hain has developed the novel Fluorocycler™ XT, an innovative real-time PCR system with an unprecedented temperature range and homogeneity for highest reproducibility and high-level multiplexing using Hain’s proprietary, novel Liquid Array™ assay format. The first Liquid Array assay will be the Fluorotype MTBDR 2.0 for detecting the M. tuberculosis complex, including its drug resistances against rifampicin and isoniazid, with CE-IVD labeling expected after a test phase in selected early adopter laboratories. Additional Liquid Array assays for affordable mid- to high-throughput syndromic panel testing are planned.
David Hain, Managing Director of the renamed Bruker-Hain Diagnostics MDx business, said: “We expect the launch of our new Fluorotype MTBDR 2.0 Liquid Array tuberculosis assay in selected markets that accept the CE-IVD mark already in the fourth quarter of 2018. This assay will be a true multi-drug resistance assay which further improves tuberculosis detection and classification to give infectious disease doctors a valuable tool to improve public health.”
Professor Robin M. Warren at the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research and SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, stated: “We have already been successfully using the Hain GenoType portfolio and Fluorotype MTBDR assay for mycobacteria analysis. Hain is a proven mycobacteria expert, and we are excited about the Bruker-Hain Diagnostics innovation pipeline that will further improve TB testing with more differentiated diagnostic information.”
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Dr. Catharina Boehme, CEO of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva, Switzerland, added: “Drug-resistant TB is a major public health concern in many countries. While drug susceptibility testing for rifampicin is increasing, we are still a long way from the universal access called for by WHO in the ‘End TB’ strategy. Expanded rapid tests such as those offered by Bruker-Hain Diagnostics are necessary to identify isoniazid-monoresistance and enable individualized patient therapy.”
The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Bruker’s 2018 non-GAAP operating margin and earnings per share. In 2019, Bruker continues to expect Hain to be accretive to Bruker’s non-GAAP EPS by $0.01-$0.02.
Date: October 22, 2018
Source: Cision
