MedImmune to acquire company to strengthen focus on biomarkers in immuno-oncology

MedImmune, a US subsidiary of Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Definiens, a privately-held, Germany-headquartered company.

Under the terms of the accord, MedImmune will acquire 100% of Definiens’ shares for an initial consideration of $150 million and make additional predetermined milestone payments. Definiens will continue to operate its business with third-party customers. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Definiens has pioneered a world-leading imaging and data analysis technology, known as Tissue Phenomics, which dramatically improves the identification of biomarkers in tumor tissue. Its proprietary Cognition Network Technology was developed by Professor Gerd Binnig, the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Physics, and unlocks information from cancer tissue samples by measuring the identity, locations and, most importantly, the relationships between the many and varied components of the complex tumour microenvironment.