Illumina – ILMN – To Acquire Verinata Health

NASDAQ:ILMN) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Verinata Health, Inc., a leading provider of non-invasive tests for the early identification of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, for consideration of $350 million plus up to $100 million in milestone payments through 2015. Upon completion of the acquisition, Illumina will have access to Verinata’s verifi® prenatal test, the broadest non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) available today for high-risk pregnancies, and to the most comprehensive intellectual property portfolio in the non-invasive prenatal test industry. As non-invasive prenatal testing is one of the most rapidly growing areas utilizing next-generation sequencing, Illumina is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of providing superior prenatal testing options.

“This agreement with Verinata demonstrates Illumina’s commitment to developing innovative diagnostic solutions and providing our partners with the most advanced technologies for improved patient care,” said Jay Flatley, President and CEO of Illumina. “Building on the recent acquisition of BlueGnome Ltd. and our expertise in next-generation sequencing, this announcement further establishes Illumina as a leader in reproductive health.”

“Together, Illumina and Verinata are well-suited to drive the adoption of the non-invasive prenatal testing market. With approximately 500,000 high-risk pregnancies annually in the United States and an estimated four million pregnancies in total, there is a clear need for such tests,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bird, Executive Chairman and CEO of Verinata Health. “Given the recent American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine (SMFM) joint opinion that recommended cell–free DNA prenatal testing as a first or second trimester option for women at increased risk of aneuploidy, we believe more physicians will be adopting NIPT.”

About Illumina – ILMN

Illumina (ILMN) is a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of life science tools and integrated systems for large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. ILMN provides innovative sequencing and array-based solutions for genotyping, copy number variation analysis, methylation studies, gene expression profiling, and low-multiplex analysis of DNA, RNA, and protein. ILMN also provides tools and services that are fueling advances in consumer genomics and diagnostics.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.