Qiagen acquiring STAT-Dx

Qiagen N.V. (Xetra:QIA; NYSE:QGEN) is acquiring fellow diagnostic company STAT-Dx Life S.L. (Barcelona, Spain) for $147 million in cash. Stat-Dx shareholders are also eligible to receive up to $44 million in milestones.

Using STAT-Dx's DiagCORE technology, Qiagen is developing the QIAstat-Dx system with respiratory and gastrointestinal panels to diagnose respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. The PCR-based, multiplex testing system can process up to 48 molecular targets simultaneously in less than an hour. Qiagen plans to launch the system in Europe next half and in the U.S. next year. The partners expect the deal to close next quarter...