Israel Villasenyore IMD CEO, Jo Jeonghee, CEO of LabGenomics USA (U.S. branch). / Photo by LabGenomics
Genome analysis specialist LabGenomics announced on the 16th that it has completed the final acquisition of the US-based IMD and secured four CLIA labs. This means that about a year after acquiring QDx in the US East Coast in the second half of last year, it has additionally secured three CLIA labs in the Central and Western regions.
IMD operates CLIA labs in Sacramento, Aurora, and Berkeley in the United States. It has secured a diverse cancer diagnostic portfolio, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based infectious disease diagnostics and next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based cancer diagnostic services. While QDx specializes in pathology, IMD provides NGS cancer diagnostics and infectious PCR diagnostics, aiming to maximize synergy between the two companies.
In particular, IMD holds 'CPT codes' and 'Z codes' that are applicable for insurance reimbursement, which is expected to facilitate rapid expansion of service applications. It is also positive that IMD has contracts with Blue Cross Blue Shield, the top-grossing US insurance company. Joint development with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a renowned US general hospital, is underway, and analytical performance testing has been successfully completed. Once clinical performance testing is finalized, the service plans to be officially launched as a laboratory-developed test (LDT).
Kim Jeong-ju, CEO of LabGenomics, said, “After signing the SPA (Stock Purchase Agreement) last September, we have successfully completed the second CLIA lab acquisition. This is the result of actively pursuing acquisitions over two years, enabling us to apply LabGenomics’ technology across the US through a total of four CLIA labs.”
He added, “By leveraging geographic synergies between the labs, we will shorten turnaround times (TAT) and optimize testing in each region to reduce logistics costs, thereby strengthening market dominance. We will actively utilize the CLIA lab infrastructure established in the East and West to help QDx and IMD become clinical test bed meccas for the entry of K-diagnostics into the US market.”
He also stated, “We will further enhance competitiveness in the US cancer diagnostics market by collaborating with Dr. Petros Giannikopoulos of IMD.”
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