SQI to Acquire Precision Biomonitoring SARS-CoV-2 Testing Business, Technology

Original from: GenomeWeb

SQI Diagnostics said on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Precision Biomonitoring's SARS-CoV-2 testing business and related molecular diagnostic technology for $6.825 million in cash and stock.

Under the terms of the deal, SQI will pay Precision $6.145 million in cash and 4,171,779 of its shares, at a price of $.163 per share. The transaction is expected to close on Feb. 14.

The acquisition includes the Canadian distribution rights for Biomeme's SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time RT-PCR Test, which Precision acquired under a mid-2020 deal between the companies, as well as the Canadian distribution rights to Biomeme's Rapid Mobile Testing devices including its Franklin portable test reader for human use. Both the test and the reader are approved by Health Canada under an interim order.

SQI will also pick up Precision's TripleLock SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR technology, which includes point-of-care testing systems and kits and lab-based diagnostic RT-qPCR testing systems. The lab-based TripleLock systems are also approved in Canada under an interim order, SQI said.

Precision's SARS-CoV-2 testing and TripleLock operations generated revenues of around $4.5 million in the third quarter of 2021, according to SQI.

"We believe that [Precision has] done an outstanding job of building a human PCR testing business that nimbly and effectively brings innovative testing solutions to market," SQI CEO Andrew Morris said in a statement. "We're looking forward to continue serving their customers, integrating their commercially and clinically successful team into our SQI family, and making our Exact COVID-19 antibody test available to those same customers once approved."