WuXi PharmaTech Buys NextCODE Health For $65 Mln; Lifts FY14 View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (WX) said Friday that it has acquired NextCODE Health, genomic analysis and bioinformatics company with operations in the United States and Iceland, for $65 million in cash.

WuXi plans to merge NextCODE Health and WuXi's Genome Center into a new company to be named WuXi NextCODE Genomics.

The company noted that the business will be headquartered in Shanghai, with operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Reykjavik, Iceland. The leadership of WuXi NextCODE Genomics will include Ge Li as CEO, Edward Hu as CFO, Hannes Smarason as COO, Jeffrey Gulcher as CSO, Hongye Sun as CTO, and Hakon Gudbjartsson as VP Informatics.

NextCODE Health was spun out from deCODE genetics after the latter was acquired by Amgen in December 2012. Founded in 1996, deCODE genetics is a global leader in analyzing and understanding the links between the genome and disease susceptibility. In October 2013, NextCODE Health announced that it had obtained from Amgen a five-year exclusive license for sequence-based clinical diagnostic applications using technology developed by deCODE genetics.

Separately, WuXi PharmaTech announced that it has updated its 2014 financial guidance. The company expects to achieve total revenues for full-year 2014 of approximately $674 million, compared to previous guidance of $670 million - $672 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report revenues of $671.45 million for fiscal 2014. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company expects to achieve fiscal 2014 non-GAAP earnings per share of approximately $1.87 and GAAP earnings per share of approximately $1.56, compared to previous non-GAAP earnings per share guidance of $1.83-$1.86 and GAAP earnings per share outlook of $1.55- $1.58.

The company plans to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2014 financial results and to provide 2015 financial guidance in March 2015.