Myriad acquires Germany-based diagnostic company

Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics has acquired Sividon Diagnostics, a breast cancer prognostic company based in Germany, for 35 million euro upfront with the potential for 15 million euro in additional performance-based milestones. The transaction closed on May 31. 

Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics has acquired Sividon Diagnostics, a breast cancer prognostic company based in Germany, for 35 million euro upfront with the potential for 15 million euro in additional performance-based milestones. The transaction closed on May 31.

“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,” said Mark C. Capone, president and CEO of Myriad Genetic Laboratories. “The EndoPredict test will be the foundational product of our newly initiated kit-based strategy and allow Myriad to leverage its global oncology distribution to bring this important test to patients worldwide.”

“We are excited to be integrated with the global leader and pioneer in personalized medicine,” said Christoph Petry, CEO of Sividon Diagnostics. “Myriad has the reimbursement, regulatory and commercial expertise to make this product very successful, especially as we seek distribution in the United States and broader reimbursement coverage in Europe.”

Sividon Diagnostics was spun out of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics in July 2010 as part of a management buyout. Its core EndoPredict product is a kit-based RNA expression test that evaluates 12 genes to assess the aggressiveness of breast cancer on a molecular level. 

Myriad intends to fund the transaction entirely through cash on hand. At the end of the fiscal third quarter, Myriad had cash and cash equivalents of $286 million on hand.

Myriad Genetics Inc. discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that determine the risk of developing diseases, accurately diagnose diseases, assess the risk of disease progression and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs.