Curetis Acquires Real-Time qPCR Platform from Carpegen and Systec

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Holzgerlingen, and Münster Germany, December 13, 2016 - Curetis, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced the acquisition of the real-time qPCR-based Gyronimo platform from Carpegen GmbH and Systec GmbH, joint owners of the platform.

Under the terms of the agreement, Curetis is acquiring all Gyronimo platform assets, including fully functional prototype systems and the entire intellectual property portfolio comprised of several patent families pending and a key patent granted in the U.S., Canada and China already, and allowed in Europe. Curetis will also obtain exclusive Gyronimo know-how and a non-exclusive license to background intellectual property and know-how. Curetis will be granted exclusive worldwide rights to the platform, including the right to sublicense, partner or sell it, with an exemption for Carpegen and Systec in dental testing as well as in environmental and food safety testing.

Curetis will make a one-time upfront payment of EUR 5.0 million in cash. In addition, Carpegen and Systec are eligible for two discrete, one-time milestone payments upon platform and first cartridge CE marking and FDA clearance, respectively, totaling up to EUR 2.5 million. There will also be the potential for a royalty-based earn-out at an industry-typical mid-single digit percentage rate, up to a maximum of EUR 9 million.

„With Curetis, we have found the ideal partner to take the Gyronimo platform through the final stages of product development, industrialization, manufacturing and scale-up as well as global commercialization,” said Dr. Antje Rötger, CEO Carpegen GmbH. “We will benefit substantially from the ultimate commercial success of the platform and we have retained certain areas that are of direct commercial interest to us, such as dental testing and environmental and food safety testing. To this end, we have agreed that we may discuss a possible OEM partnership with Curetis at a future point in time to obtain Gyronimo instruments and cartridges for our own commercial purposes. We are excited to be working closely with Curetis on the smooth transfer of all assets and knowhow in the coming months.”

We would like to thank for legal advice and expertise:
Dr. Andrea Schmoll, Dr. Martin Sundermann, Osborne Clarke

We would like to thank for portfolio and market analysis:
Dr. Thomas Berthold, Lifescience Business Consulting