BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Going for diagnostic clout

January 25, 1999 8:00 AM UTC

The planned merger between Shield Diagnostics Group plc (LSE:SDG) and Axis Biochemicals AS (OSE:AXI) will create a heart disease testing company valued at about £160 million ($264 million) with enhanced clout when it comes to dealing with multinational diagnostics distributors.

While both companies could have continued on their own, they concluded that a combined entity would have more leverage in dealing with the multinationals that use SDG and AXI products on their instrumentation. Both companies have developed complementary tests for homocysteine, an amino acid found in blood that is considered to be a good indicator for detecting cardiovascular disease...