Caliper is set to purchase NovaScreen for $22 million in stocks and cash plus payments of up to $8 million contingent on the achievement of defined revenue milestones over a 30-month period.
NovaScreen provides screening, profiling and assay development services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. By acquiring NovaScreen, Caliper hopes to become a central resource for drug discovery solutions, offering scientists a comprehensive suite of in-house and outsourced drug discovery technologies, products and services.
“Through this acquisition we see significant opportunities to leverage Caliper’s and NovaScreen’s combined expertise and technologies to better serve the pharmaceutical with immediate opportunities in the growing secondary screening and profiling market,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, president and CEO of Caliper.
The transaction is set to close during the fourth quarter of 2005, with NovaScreen expected to contribute earnings of approximately $2 million to Caliper’s revenue.
Caliper hopes the deal will favorably position the company to address emerging needs in the life sciences industry, particularly in the provision of safety-profiling assays. The company believes the recent high-profile drug withdrawals within the industry have led pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to increasingly outsource much screening and profiling of their drug development, leaving an opening for Caliper to fill.