Strand acquires majority stake in US diagnostic firm Venaxis

With the deal, the firm, which offers personalised treatment, will look to expand its offering to cancer patients in US

Strand Life Sciences, a firm founded by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professors, on Wednesday, said it would acquire a 68% stake in a US-based diagnostic firm Venaxis as it expands offering personalised treatment to cancer patients in the United States.

“On behalf of the Strand LS shareholders, we believe that this transaction represents an attractive opportunity for Strand Life Sciences, as an agile innovator in clinical genomics, to combine forces with Venaxis, a public company in the United States with experienced executives and board members to help it rapidly expand market adoption of StrandAdvantage and other future product offerings," said Dr Vijay Chandru, chairman of Strand Life Sciences.

Chandru will be the chairman of the combined board. Steve Lundy will become the Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Jeff McGonegal will continue as CFO.
 

Due to Indian tax and financial regulations, the transaction is being structured as purchases, by Venaxis, of the Strand LS shares from the Strand LS shareholders, followed by an immediate re-investment of those sale proceeds, by the Strand LS shareholders, into Venaxis Common Stock, Venaxis said in a statement. 

Financial details were not disclosed for the transaction. Venaxis, listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, reported a loss of $ 5.8 million on revenue of $ 92,894 for the nine months ending September. After the transaction, the company will trade with the Strand symbol.

Strand LS has commercialised a next generation sequencing (NGS)-based, targeted, multi-gene, pan-cancer diagnostic panel in select international markets and has engaged in initial commercialisation activities in the United States, it said.. 

The Bengaluru-based firm offers personalised treatment options including suggested drugs within ten days of testing a cancer tumour by sequencing 152 genes, helping oncologists begin treating their patients. In the next two weeks, a full report is given for enhanced treatment, 

Strand, which has brought down the time taken for first line of cancer treatment by half, provides the same personalised treatment to local patients in India at a cost of PET scan. In India, the firm offers a package by sequencing 50 genes to bring costs to less than Rs 20,000.