Myriad Acquires Crescendo Bioscience
Salt Lake City’s Myriad Genetics gains an edge in the lucrative autoimmune diagnostics market with the acquisition of Crescendo Bioscience. The $270 million deal, announced Tuesday, blends Crescendo’s diagnostics for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with Myriad’s focus on oncology, women’s health, urology and dermatology.
The purchase not only helps Myriad diversify its revenue stream, but enhances the company’s strength in DNA-, RNA- and protein-based diagnostics. “Crescendo Bioscience fits well into our diagnostic portfolio,” said Myriad CEO Peter D. Meldrum.
In return, Crescendo will benefit from Myriad’s experience in managed care, sales and marketing, customer service and product development to help expand its domestic business strength, Myriad said.
Crescendo’s flagship device, the Vectra DA, is a protein biomarker-based blood test that evaluates rheumatoid arthritis disease progression through a single numerical score. The company also developed the myRA iPhone app, allowing rheumatoid arthritis patients to track aspects of their disease and share the information with a physician.
Myriad’s products include tests for genetic markers for multiple types of cancer. But, as Myriad spokesman Ron Rogers notes, there are many cancer diagnostics and very few for rheumatoid arthritis or inflammation. Crescendo is a leader in this near-empty space with Vector DA, and Myriad plans to leverage its sales and marketing expertise to make the product the standard of care for RA patients, he told Device Daily Bulletin.
Myriad reported revenues of $204 million in the fiscal 2014 second quarter, up 37 percent from the previous year. “Based on the growth in its core markets and the acquisition of Crescendo Bioscience announced today Myriad is raising its revenue expectations for fiscal year ending June 30, 2014” — from a high of $715 million to $740 million to $750 million, the company said.
The company expects to close the deal by the end of the fiscal year, pending regulatory approval. — Lena Freund
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