Brown Rudnick advised EDX Medical Group plc, a developer of innovative digital diagnostic products and services for the personalised treatment for cancer, heart disease and infectious diseases, on its share-for-share acquisition of Oxford-based Hutano Diagnostics Ltd, a developer of ‘point of care’ testing devices suitable for qualitative and quantitative assessment of single and multiple compounds.
EDX Medical, which is based in Cambridge and listed on the AQSE Growth Market, announced the deal on Sept. 27. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2018, Hutano Diagnostics is committed to enabling accurate and timely disease prognosis, diagnosis and management. To extend the capabilities of lateral flow devices (LFDs), Hutano developed an innovative quantitative LFD platform which translates the latest proteomics research into multiplex LFDs.
The acquisition will enable EDX Medical to accelerate and expand its point-of-care testing capabilities with a range of innovative tests, which will be used to identify early signs of cancer, infections, and cardio-vascular conditions, and can be carried out by health professionals at the point-of-care, wherever they work, without delays and the costs associated with laboratory processing. The range of tests that will be produced by EDX Medical will combine Hutano technology with the smart-phone reader expertise and test formats designed by Torax Biosciences Limited, which was acquired by EDX Medical in February of this year.
In addition, Brown Rudnick advised EDX Medical on a strategic agreement with Guardant Health Inc. to distribute its liquid biopsy tests in certain market sectors in the U.K. and several Nordic countries. The tests help to detect early stage and advanced cancer.
Dr. Mike Hudson, chief executive of EDX Medical, said: “Our vision for developing a next generation of cost-effective, clinical diagnostics for point of care use comes a step closer as a result of combining with Hutano, whilst our strategic agreement with Guardant Health will provide healthcare professionals and patients with access to these leading genomic cancer tests in the Nordics for the first time as well as provide additional support for private sector healthcare providers in the U.K. We are hugely grateful to Lena and her team for their commitment, knowledge and expertise in the life sciences sector which were instrumental in completing these deals.”
The Brown Rudnick team was led by corporate partner Lena Hodge, with support from tax partner Tracy Fisher and corporate associates Nick Davies and Morgan Jones.
