Veridex Announces Agreement to Acquire the Assets of Immunicon Corporation
June 11 2008 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
RARITAN, N.J., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Veridex, LLC
announced today that it has signed an asset purchase agreement to
acquire substantially all of the assets of Immunicon Corporation
(OTC:IMMC) (BULLETIN BOARD: IMMC) for $31 million in cash subject
to certain closing date adjustments, plus the discharge and release
of certain claims owing to Veridex, LLC and the assumption of
certain specified liabilities. The assets to be acquired include
intellectual property, product inventory and clinical data as well
as all technologies related to the CellSearch(TM) System, the first
diagnostic test to automate the detection and enumeration of
circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cancer cells that detach from solid
tumors and enter the blood stream. The CellSearch(TM) System is
currently cleared for the prognosis and monitoring of patients with
metastatic breast, metastatic colorectal and metastatic prostate
cancer. "This agreement represents a strategic opportunity for
Veridex to continue to bring innovative diagnostic tests to the
patients, physicians and laboratories involved in the fight against
cancer," said Ken Berlin, General Manager, Veridex, LLC. Veridex
and Immunicon have partnered since 2000 to develop and
commercialize novel cancer diagnostic platforms and products. The
transaction is subject to the approval by the bankruptcy court
overseeing Immunicon's bankruptcy case. It is not expected to
require anti-trust review or shareholder approval. About Veridex
Veridex, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, is an organization
dedicated to providing physicians with high-value in vitro
diagnostic oncology products. Veridex is focused on developing
products that will significantly benefit patients through earlier
disease detection, and enable personalized medicine strategies to
improve patient management and outcomes. The company develops
cancer diagnostic products that may enable earlier disease
detection as well as more accurate monitoring and therapeutic
selection. The company is currently marketing two product lines:
CellSearch(TM) assays that enumerate circulating tumor cells in
blood and GeneSearch(TM) assays using molecular technology. For
additional information, please visit http://www.veridex.com/ (This
press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements are based on current expectations of future events. If
underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or
uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially
from Veridex's expectations and projections. Risks and
uncertainties include the satisfaction of closing conditions for
the acquisition, including receipt of approval for the transaction
by the bankruptcy court overseeing Immunicon's bankruptcy case, and
the possibility that the transaction will not be completed; general
industry conditions and competition; economic conditions, such as
interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
technological advances and patents attained by competitors;
challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining
regulatory approvals; domestic and foreign health care reforms and
governmental laws and regulations; and trends toward health care
cost containment. A further list and description of these risks,
uncertainties and other factors can be found in Exhibit 99 of
Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 30, 2007. Copies of this Form 10-K, as well as
subsequent filings, are available online at http://www.sec.gov/,
http://www.jnj.com/ or on request from Johnson & Johnson.
Veridex does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements
as a result of new information or future events or developments.)
DATASOURCE: Veridex, LLC CONTACT: Press, Linda Fedow
+1-908-218-8287, or Investor, Louise Mehrotra, +1-732-524-6491, or
Stan Panasewicz, +1-732-524-2524 Web site: http://www.veridex.com/
http://www.jnj.com/
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