Grifols Purchases Novartis Transfusion Diagnostics Unit

Grifols, a producer of plasma therapies, and Novartis have announced that Grifols will acquire the transfusion diagnostics unit of Novartis for $1.68 billion, according to a Grifols press release. The transaction is part of Grifols’ growth strategy of complementing its range of plasma protein therapies with other diagnostic products and services (Diagnostic Division). Assets acquired in the transaction include patents, brands, licenses, and royalties as well as a production plant in Emeryville, CA, and commercial offices in the United States, Switzerland, and Hong Kong (for the Asia-Pacific region) among others.

Grifols plans on expanding its portfolio by including Novartis’ diagnostic products for transfusion medicine and immunology, including its highly innovative, market-leading Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques (NAT) technology, instrumentation, and equipment for blood screening, specific software, and reagents. The company hopes this strategic operation will strengthen Grifols’ Diagnostic Division, particularly in the US.

The company also expects Novartis’ diagnostic business, which focuses on guaranteeing the safety of blood donations for transfusion or to be used in the plasma fractionating industry, to complement Grifols’ existing bioscience division (plasma proteins). The company hopes to provide solutions for blood and plasma donor centers, with the most complete product portfolio in the immunohematology field: gel cards, multicard, and the new genotyping technology from Progenika.

“The acquisition of Novartis’ diagnostic business is a step further into our vision to become a world leader also in the diagnostics field,” said Victor Grifols, president and CEO of Grifols, in the press release. “To achieve this we knew we needed a significant presence in United States. We initiated the process in the Bioscience area in 2003 with the acquisition of the ATC assets and continued with the Talecris transaction in 2011. During the last two years the Diagnostic Division has been preparing for this step, especially in the immunohematology activities”