Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB Acquires Amic Gains Access to In Vitro Diagnostic Technologies in Development for Use in Point-of-Care Settings
SOLLENTUNA, Sweden, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, a Johnson & Johnson company, today announced the acquisition of Amic, a privately held Swedish developer of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) technologies for use in Point-of-Care (POC) and near-patient settings (outside the physical facilities of the clinical laboratory). The acquisition will provide Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, with access to a high performance technology platform -- currently in development in this rapidly growing area of diagnostics -- that complements its clinical laboratory, immunohematology and donor screening businesses. As a result of the acquisition, Johnson & Johnson expects to incur an estimated one-time after-tax charge of approximately $40 million during the second quarter of 2008 related to the expensing of in-process research and development. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Amic is developing technology that uses a chip-based micro-fluidic platform to enable fully quantitative, immunoassay tests in POC or near-patient settings. This next-generation technology represents an advance in an area of diagnostics where double-digit market growth is anticipated.
"This acquisition is a strategic opportunity to develop a Point-of-Care channel," said Mark Straley, Worldwide Commercial President, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. "We're committed to bringing novel assays and existing tests closer to the patient and delivering information to health care professionals when and where they need it."
"We're excited about the possibilities of touching the lives of patients by combining our testing technologies with current and future assays of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics," said Ove Ohman, founder and CEO, Amic.
About Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB
Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Based in Sollentuna, Sweden, Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB is a sales and marketing company in the Medical Devices & Diagnostics segment.
About Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.
Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, delivers high quality in vitro diagnostic products that give health care professionals around the world the knowledge they need to make better treatment decisions sooner. The company serves the global transfusion medicine community with donor screening and blood typing products to help ensure every patient receives blood that's safe, the right type, and the right unit. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics also brings sophisticated information management, testing technologies, automation and interpretation tools to clinical laboratories worldwide to help them run more efficiently and improve patient care. For more information, visit www.orthoclinical.com.
(This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from Johnson & Johnson's expectations and projections. Risks and uncertainties include general industry conditions and competition; economic conditions, such as interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; technological advances and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approvals; domestic and foreign health care reforms and governmental laws and regulations; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Exhibit 99 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2007. Copies of this Form 10-K, as well as subsequent filings, are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.)
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http://www.orthoclinical.com/