Canadian acquisition expands Bayer's HIV diagnostics portfolio

Bayer Corporation, the US subsidiary of the Bayer Group, is to consolidate its diagnostics business through the acquisition of Canadian company Visible Genetics for US$61.4m (€62.9m). The transaction is subject to approval from the regulatory authorities and VGI shareholders.

Bayer Diagnostics is one of the top four global companies in the medical diagnostics sector, with annual sales of some €2bn ($2bn) and a market share of around 10%. The acquisition of VGI is intended to expand further the company's position in the field of nucleic acid diagnostics.

Toronto-based VGI's assay portfolio complements Bayer's existing range of nucleic acid tests for HIV and hepatitis. VGI plays a leading role in resistance determination by means of sequencing analysis with its TRUGENE tests, which include the TRUGENE HIV-1 test, the only HIV sequencing genotyping test to have been granted market approval by the US FDA.

'This acquisition is another milestone in our ongoing strategy to expand our infectious disease portfolio which began with our acquisition of Chiron Diagnostics in 1998,' said Rolf Classon, head of the diagnostics division of the healthcare subgroup of Bayer AG.