LOVELAND, Colo., Sept. 12,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Heska Corporation (NASDAQ:
HSKA; "Heska" or the "Company"), a leading global provider of
advanced veterinary diagnostic and specialty solutions, announced
today that the Company has entered a definitive agreement to
acquire 100% of the share capital of MBio Diagnostics, Inc. d/b/a
LightDeck Diagnostics ("LightDeck"), a pioneer in innovative planar
waveguide fluorescence immunoassay diagnostics with strong
manufacturing and specialized production capabilities (the
"Acquisition").
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, LightDeck has developed a
scalable and innovative platform for rapid and accurate point of
care diagnostics. LightDeck's 80-member team includes industry
veterans, engineers, and scientists, with deep technical expertise
in assay development, manufacturing, and software development, who
have collaborated with commercial, academic, and government
partners worldwide to build an extensive intellectual property
portfolio of 16 US patents and 15 international patents with broad
applications, including in veterinary diagnostics, water testing,
and human in-vitro diagnostics use. LightDeck's planar waveguide
technology optimizes laser activated fluorescence and microfluidics
to provide point of care cartridge-based testing without
compromise, enabling reference lab-quality results in minutes with
inexpensive, quantitative, and easy-to-use functionality.
LightDeck's current Boulder
location includes fully equipped laboratories for assay development
and controlled manufacturing capabilities that support its new,
state-of-the-art, highly automated facility in Longmont, Colorado, anticipated to go online
in 2023 to dramatically scale-up capacity, production, and research
and development.
"We are thrilled to welcome the entire LightDeck team to Heska.
We have known and closely followed their success for years and we
are happy to fully join with them today as one team focused on
supercharging their great work. LightDeck brings to Heska
best-in-breed, highly scalable manufacturing and world-class assay
development to help drive our strategies for winning at innovation
and winning at scale," commented Kevin
Wilson, Heska's Chief Executive Officer and President.
"LightDeck was central in developing Heska's leading
immunodiagnostic platform, Element i+®, including its current menu
of Total T4, cTSH, Cortisol, and Progesterone. Having proven our
capability, we now take this next important step as we aim to drive
production of Element i+® analyzers and cartridges at scale and to
accelerate key test menu expansion, such as our recently announced
Nu.Q® Vet Cancer Screen, cCRP, SDMA, infectious diseases, and more,
in single and multi-plex formats that are substantially better than
the competition. We expect to drive gross margin improvement with
new manufacturing capabilities and scaling across the business. The
addition of LightDeck is a great strategic, financial, and cultural
fit with Heska as we continue our march to the top of the
innovation and manufacturing competition for the most valuable
diagnostics," concluded Mr. Wilson.
Nick Traggis, LightDeck's Chief
Executive Officer commented, "This is a terrific outcome for
LightDeck and Heska and their shareholders, employees and
commercial partners. We have known and worked with Heska for years
and we greatly admire the Heska organization. Since its founding in
2009, LightDeck has been dedicated to revolutionizing testing at
the point of care- for faster, more accurate, less expensive,
multi-plex testing of the most important diagnostic tests. We have
developed one of the most innovative and technologically-advanced
assay platforms in the world, which has led to our recent addition
to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's 50 Most Innovative
Companies for 2022. I am very proud of the work our team has
accomplished over the last 13 years." LightDeck's Co-Founder and
Chief Technology Officer, Mike
Lochhead, went on to say, "We are excited to now enter this
next phase with Heska to dramatically expand our reach and scale.
What we do at LightDeck matters a great deal. With Heska, we go
confidently into our next commercial, manufacturing, and
development chapters, strongly engaged, highly supported, and
clearly set-up for long-term success and growth."
Transaction Details
Heska will purchase LightDeck for
a purchase price of $38.7 million.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023,
subject to customary closing conditions.
Mr. Wilson and Company management will discuss this announcement
and other Company updates on Heska's Third Quarter 2022 earnings
conference call early November 2022.
To access the event, please visit https://ir.heska.com/events/.
About Heska
Heska Corporation
(NASDAQ: HSKA) manufactures, develops and
sells advanced veterinary diagnostics, informatics,
and specialty healthcare solutions through its two business
segments: North America and
International. Both segments include Point of Care Lab testing
instruments and consumables, digital imaging products, software and
services, data services, allergy testing and
immunotherapy, and single-use offerings such as in-clinic
diagnostic tests and heartworm preventive products.
The North America segment also
includes private label vaccine and pharmaceutical production for
third-parties, primarily for herd animal health. For more
information, please visit www.heska.com.
About LightDeck Diagnostics
LightDeck Diagnostics
believes in a new approach to healthcare, where quick and accurate
diagnostic tests will be run wherever and whenever they are needed.
The company's proprietary LightDeck® platform combines an advanced
laser waveguide with novel materials and patented manufacturing
techniques to deliver lab-quality results anywhere, in minutes. The
LightDeck platform is achieving success in veterinary diagnostics
and for environmental testing. LightDeck is also developing a
portfolio of in vitro diagnostic panels. The company is based in
Boulder, Colorado, and is
recognized as Colorado BioScience Association's Company of the
Year, 2021.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document
contains forward-looking information related to the Company. These
forward-looking statements generally include statements that are
predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or
conditions, and include words such as "believes," "plans,"
"anticipates," "aims," "expects," "intends," "strategy," "future,"
"opportunity," "may," "will," "should," "could," "potential," or
similar expressions. All of the statements in this document, other
than historical facts, are forward-looking statements and are based
on a number of assumptions that could ultimately prove inaccurate
and cause actual results to materially deviate from forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements in this document include,
among other things, statements with respect to future financial and
operating results and strategic goals, the expected timing of the
Acquisition and its anticipated benefits. Such statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to,
risks and the closing of the Acquisition; the ability to achieve
the anticipated benefits of the Acquisition; any product's ability
to perform and be recognized as anticipated, in particular when
such product is under development; Heska's ability to
sell and market its products and services in an economically
sustainable fashion, including related to varying customs,
cultures, languages and sales cycles; foreign political and
economic climates; the Company's ability to integrate the
acquired LightDeck business within its existing
operations; and new product development and release schedules.
Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking
statements are set forth under "Risk Factors" in the Company's most
recent annual report on Form 10-K.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/heska-to-acquire-lightdeck-diagnostics-to-invest-in-manufacturing-capabilities-and-accelerate-research-and-development-efforts-301621733.html
SOURCE Heska Corporation