Roche to Acquire Molecular Diagnostics Firm for $1.8 Billion

Roche has entered a definitive agreement to acquire GenMark Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics maker based in Carlsbad, Calif., for $1.8 billion.

GenMark offers respiratory pathogen panels that identify the most common viral and bacterial organisms associated with upper respiratory infection, including SARS-CoV-2. The company received FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in October 2020 and a CE mark in September 2020 for a rapid molecular panel that detects more than 20 respiratory pathogens, including the coronavirus.

GenMark also earned an EUA in March 2020 for its ePlex SARS-CoV-2 test, a nasopharyngeal swab diagnostic that automatically provides results in under two hours and can handle up to 96 tests per eight-hour shift in laboratory settings.

The transaction is expected to become final in the second quarter of the year, after which GenMark will continue to operate at its Carlsbad headquarters.