Quanterix Announces Agreement to Acquire UmanDiagnostics, World’s Leading Neurofilament Light (Nf-L) Antibody Supplier
- Positions
Quanterix to capitalize on significant growth opportunities with Nf-L applications in Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative conditions - Provides expected 200 bps of annualized company gross margin improvement, before impact of purchase price accounting, and expected to accelerate cashflow breakeven timing
- Strengthens Quanterix’ assay development and supply capabilities
- Secures Nf-L antibody supply critical to Quanterix’ industry leading ultrasensitive Simoa Nf-L assays and services
Uman, based in Umeå,
“We believe that the ability to measure Nf-L in blood is one of the most significant advances in diagnosis and monitoring of a wide range of neurodegenerative conditions and has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of people suffering from some of the most debilitating diseases impacting society,” said
Strategic and Financial Benefits of the Transaction
- Financial Benefits: Savings realized from the cost of Nf-L antibodies will deliver an estimated 200 bps, before impact of purchase price accounting, in gross margin to
Quanterix (annualized) and are expected to accelerate the company’s cash flow crossover timing by one to two quarters. Uman’s revenues from sales of Nf-L antibodies to other customers and from ELISA kits are not expected to be material toQuanterix , though future applications of Nf-L have the potential to provide significant revenue growth opportunities. - Securing Antibody Supply: The transaction secures a long-term source of supply for a critical technology. More than 25% of Quanterix’ total revenues rely on Nf-L as a component. Over the last decade, numerous companies have tried to develop competing Nf-L antibodies to those which Uman offers with very limited success. The acquisition will ensure
Quanterix can continue to supply researchers globally with the “best-in-class” Simoa Nf-L assays, while continuing to innovate new digital biomarkers to advance the field of research in diagnostics for neurology disorders. - Strategic Value in Future Clinical Opportunities: Serum Nf-L (sNf-L) is currently in 46 active key clinical trials, 16 of which are major industry sponsored trials, and has significant potential as a clinical test for diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of major neurodegenerative conditions. In aggregate, these diagnostic opportunities represent an estimated total available market of >
$10B . With the acquisition,Quanterix will be poised to capitalize on these opportunities, either in partnership with leading diagnostic and biopharmaceutical companies or on its own. - Reinforcing Quanterix Nf-L Strength: Nf-L has rapidly become a major catalyst for Quanterix’ growth and continues to offer significant future growth potential. Publications citing the Simoa Nf-L assay have skyrocketed since the assay was launched in 2016 and totaled 58 as of the end of 2018.
Quanterix also supported a 17-site multi-center study last year and demonstrated a very high level of specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility with its Simoa HD-1 Analyzer running the Nf-L assay on the same samples in each site achieving CVs <10%.Quanterix has been invited twice in the last year by theFDA to present the latest on Nf-L research, demonstrating the appeal and promise of Nf-L as a better biomarker for clinical trials, as well as companion and complementary diagnostics. Large scale studies are already planned for 2019 to determine baseline values for patients across a broad range of ages, which will help further elucidate how Nf-L measurements can potentially one day become the “cholesterol test of the brain,” allowing individuals to know their Nf-L baseline and track their brain health minimally invasively and cost effectively. The annual Powering Precision Health Summit inAmsterdam recently focused largely on the promise of blood-based Nf-L tests for several major categories of neurodegenerative conditions, drawing some of the leading neurology clinicians and researchers fromEurope and beyond. With the acquisition of Uman,Quanterix will be poised to capitalize on the growth fueled by the momentum in Nf-L as a tremendously promising brain biomarker. - Antibody Development Capability: Uman has demonstrated the ability to innovate antibody development for one of the industry’s most challenging proteins, and brings antibody development, scale-up, and commercialization expertise, which can be further leveraged to build out additional antibody development capabilities at
Quanterix .
Conference Call
Company management will be hosting a conference call to discuss the acquisition on
A live webcast will be accessible on the Investors section of Quanterix’ website: http://www.quanterix.com. The webcast will be available on the Company’s website for one year following completion of the call.
About
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend" and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release are based on Quanterix’ expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause Quanterix’ actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Quanterix’ filings with the
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Source:
Julien Bradley
Quanterix
617-301-9449
jbradley@quanterix.com