Myriad Genetics to buy Crescendo Bioscience

Myriad Genetics Inc, a US-based molecular diagnostics company, yesterday  said that it would buy Crescendo Bioscience Inc., for $270 million in cash in order to enter into the high growth autoimmune market. This includes $25 million for the repayment of a loan made to Crescendo and customary adjustments in accordance with the acquisition agreement.

Salt Lake City-based Myriad said that it will fund the deal with cash on hand and expects the transaction to close before the end of its fiscal year 2014.

Crescendo Bioscience will retain its name and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myriad.

Myriad sees a major growth opportunity for molecular diagnostics to aid patients in the autoimmune market and beyond rheumatoid arthritis.

There are several other areas in rheumatology as well as the broader autoimmune market where molecular diagnostics could play a major role in patient risk assessment, diagnosis, prognostic outlook and therapy selection.

Peter D. Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics, said "Crescendo has pioneered protein-based diagnostics for monitoring disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and this acquisition diversifies our business into a new high growth, multibillion dollar market opportunity.

Myriad said that this would complement its own current disease focus which includes products in oncology, women's health, urology, and dermatology.

Founded in 2002, San Francisco-based Crescendo is a leading molecular diagnostic laboratory in the area of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Its core product, Vectra DA, is a quantitative, protein-based test to routinely assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and provide rheumatologists with expanded clinical insights to more effectively treat patients.

"Crescendo has built a strong and growing position in the rheumatoid arthritis diagnostic market, and I believe Myriad will enable us to move to the next level in terms of scale and growth," said William Hagstrom, president and CEO of Crescendo Bioscience. "We envision multiple opportunities over the next several years where, as a combined company, we can expand our presence into international markets and provide new innovative products that help improve the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases."

Myriad said that more than 1.5 million individuals suffer from rheumatoid arthritis in the US, resulting in over $11 billion in healthcare costs.

It said that Vectra DA represents a $3 billion global market opportunity, and Crescendo will be a major growth driver for the company in the future.

Crescendo also has a pipeline of products under development for a wide range of diseases and conditions managed by rheumatologists.

Crescendo has software's for physicians, including VectraView, which allows a comprehensive overview of all RA patients' level of disease activity and trends and MyRA, which is a patient tracking and communications tool.

In 2013, Crescendo was ranked the second-fastest growing healthcare company in North America by Deloitte's 2013 Technology Fast 500 list.

During the quarter ended 31 December  2013, Crescendo tested 27,000 RA patient samples, an increase of 23 per cent over the prior quarter ended 30 September 2013.

''Crescendo has pioneered protein-based diagnostics for monitoring disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and this acquisition diversifies our business into a new high growth, multibillion dollar market opportunity,'' said Peter Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad.