Myriad Genetics said today it has acquired the breast cancer prognostic test developer Sividon Diagnostics for up to €50 million (approximately $56 million), in a deal intended to strengthen the buyer’s oncology product portfolio.
The deal closed today. Myriad said it agreed to pay €35 million ($39 million) upfront, plus up to €15 million (about $17 million) tied to achieving milestones.
Sividon’s core EndoPredict product is a kit-based RNA expression test designed to assess the aggressiveness of breast cancer on a molecular level through the evaluation of 12 genes. EndoPredict will be added into its existing oncology commercial channel, Myriad said, with the goal of helping patients decide whether to safely forgo chemotherapy.
“Sividon brings to Myriad the best-in-class breast cancer prognostic test and strengthens our market leading oncology portfolio of high value personalized medicine products,” Mark C. Capone, president and CEO, Myriad Genetic Laboratories, said in a statement.
While the test is currently CE Marked on the Siemens Versant instrument, Myriad said the product is being transitioned to the Thermo Fisher QuantStudio platform. Myriad has projected a global market opportunity for EndoPredict of more than $600 million, with most of that market existing in major European countries, Canada, and the U.S.
“We estimate that this market is less than 25% penetrated on a global basis and EndoPredict should benefit from a significant expansion in reimbursement in the coming years,” the company stated.
Myriad also expects EndoPredict to help it fulfill the company’s “4in6” mission: “Four” represents four most pressing questions of patients: Will I get a disease?Do I have a disease? Should I treat this disease? And, How should I treat this disease? “Six” reflects the company’s six medical specialties: Oncology, preventive care, urology, dermatology, autoimmune, and neuroscience.
EndoPredict has been evaluated in five major studies incorporating more than 4,000 patients. The test has been used on a clinical basis in more than 13,000 patients worldwide, and extensively referenced in clinical guidelines worldwide, according to Myriad.
Sividon was spun out of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics in 2010 as part of a management buyout.
Myriad said it expects the Sividon acquisition to be neutral to both revenue and earnings in its 2017 fiscal year, which will begin July 1.
Myriad said it intends to fund the deal entirely through cash on hand. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $286 million on hand as of March 31, the end of the third quarter of its current 2016 fiscal year.