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Law360 (March 15, 2021, 2:03 PM EDT) -- Biotechnology giant Roche said Monday it is buying diagnostics business GenMark and its technology to test for a range of diseases at once, including COVID-19, in a $1.8 billion deal guided by Sidley Austin LLP and DLA Piper.
Basel, Switzerland-based F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. is buying GenMark Diagnostics at $24.05 per share, a 43% premium to the California company's share price from Feb. 10, the last trading day before rumors of a deal became public, the joint statement said.
GenMark's testing platform checks for a range of infections at once, including the novel coronavirus and other upper respiratory diseases, adding to Roche's existing portfolio of diagnostics products, the companies said.
"As a part of Roche, we can accelerate our mission to enable rapid diagnosis of infectious disease to improve patient outcomes," GenMark CEO Scott Mendel said in the statement.
"Together with Roche's diagnostics health care solutions, we will be able to provide a full suite of molecular diagnostic solutions to customers around the world," he added.
The use of GenMark's ePlex system can help diagnose patients faster as well as improve lab efficiency, the statement said.
"[GenMark's] proven expertise in syndromic panel testing provides faster targeted therapeutic intervention, resulting in improved patient outcomes and reduced hospital stays, and will contribute to Roche's commitment to helping control infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance," Roche Diagnostics CEO Thomas Schinecker said in the same statement.
Roche isn't currently involved in syndromic testing and the deal will help expand the use of the technology, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to Law360.
The deal is set to close in the second quarter of 2021 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory requirements, as well as the tendering of a majority of GenMark's outstanding shares, the companies said.
A representative for GenMark did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Roche is represented by a Sidley Austin LLP team including Sharon Flanagan, John Butler, Sally Wagner Partin, Sara Carian, Ellen Hunter, Steve Ahn and BinQuan Zhuang and its financial adviser is Citi.
GenMark is represented by a DLA Piper team including David Clark, Andrew Booth, Leon Johnson, Paolo Morante, Becca McKnight, Cisco Palao-Ricketts, Chung Wei, Jennifer Kashatus, Neil Balmert, Cathryn Le Regulski, Patrick O'Malley, Annette Moreno and Adam Malkiewicz, and its financial adviser is J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.
--Editing by Stephen Berg.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
