Veracyte has acquired Convergent Genomics, adding the company’s UroAmp platform and its proprietary urinary tumor DNA (utDNA) technology.
The acquisition, announced Sept. 14, includes $150 million in upfront cash consideration and up to $30 million in additional cash tied to reimbursement milestones.
UroAmp has been validated in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), including for therapy-response monitoring and post-treatment surveillance.
“Bladder cancer care is advancing quickly, yet clinicians and patients still face significant uncertainty at critical decision points,” Veracyte CEO Marc Stapley, said in a statement. “UroAmp brings a differentiated urine-based platform that is especially well suited to non-muscle-invasive disease. Together with our Decipher Bladder and TrueMRD tests, this acquisition strengthens Veracyte’s ability to deliver complementary insights from urine, tissue, and blood to help guide care across the bladder cancer continuum.”
In Sept. 14 trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Veracyte rose slightly before tailing down 3 percent to $39.82.
Convergent Genomics was founded in 2015 as a spinout from Oregon Health & Science University and has ties to the Illumina Accelerator. The company operates a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory in South San Francisco.
Veracyte plans to expand the test to other uses, including tracking how patients respond to ongoing BCG treatment and monitoring for the tumor’s return after treatment.