News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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LabCorp to Acquire Genzyme’s Genetics Pathology Laboratory Testing Business for $925 Million

Price of 2.5 times revenue makes this a high price for a clinical laboratory


Monday, Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) agreed to purchase Genzyme Genetics Corp’s. (NASDAQ: GENZ) fetal genetics and oncology testing division for $925 million in cash. Genzyme has shopped its neo-natal genetic testing business since last year.

LabCorp is paying a purchase price that is 2.5 times Genzyme’s $371 million in annual revenue. This is one of the highest prices paid for a clinical pathology laboratory company since Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), paid about 2.5 times revenue for Ameripath, Inc. in March 2007. In that transaction, Quest Diagnostics paid about $2 billion for Ameripath, which had annual revenues approaching $800 million at the time of sale.

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Volume of Clinical Pathology Laboratory Specimens Increases at Bio-Reference and Sonic Healthcare

Meanwhile, both Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp report second quarter declines in specimen volume


Fewer patients visiting physician offices during second quarter 2010 is considered to be one reason why specimen volume declined at clinical pathology laboratory testing giants Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) and Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) during that three-month period.

For second quarter, LabCorp reported a 2% decline in specimen volume, along with a 4.2% increase in revenue. At Quest Diagnostics, the specimen volume decline was 1.3% and revenues declined by 1.4% in the second quarter 2010, compared to second quarter 2009.

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Westcliff Medical Laboratories Files Bankruptcy, Will Be Sold to LabCorp

Laboratory Corporation of America will also acquire Diamond Reference Laboratory


Last week, financially-troubled Westcliff Medical Laboratories, Inc., of Santa Ana, California, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy action in federal court. The news was disclosed to Westcliff clients in a letter signed by Westcliff’s Chairman and CEO. Even as this news became public, Westcliff announced that its assets would be acquired by Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH), subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.

In a separate transaction, LabCorp is acquiring Diamond Reference Laboratory of Diamond Bar, California. Diamond Reference Laboratory has estimated annual revenue of $10 million. Westcliff Medical Laboratories reported annual revenue of $97 million for 2009. When these two clinical laboratory acquisitions close, LabCorp will have picked up a 5% increase in its share of California’s estimated $2 billion laboratory testing market.

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LabCorp’s King and Ventana Medical Systems’ Grogan to Assess Clinical Laboratory Industry’s Future

Pathologists and clinical lab executives will hear perspectives from 80 speakers at the upcoming Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management

For any pathologist or clinical laboratory executive interested in the future of the lab testing industry, there will be plenty of insights at the upcoming 15th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management April 27-28 at the New Orleans Sheraton Hotel.  Leading a line-up of 80 speakers are David King, CEO of Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) and Thomas Grogan, M.D., Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Roche Ventana Medical Systems.

There’s lots of optimism about the future of laboratory testing. That’s because genetic and molecular testing is giving pathologists new tools to more precisely diagnose disease and determine appropriate therapies. LabCorp’s David King, will speak to how lab test data is the linchpin in the drive to more tightly integrate clinical care in ways to lift patient outcomes.

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Cuts in Health Budgets Are Threat and Opportunity for Clinical Pathology Laboratories

Some clinical labs use new pathology lab test technologies to deliver added value to physicians, patients, and payers

Clinical pathology laboratories in the United States and other developed countries across the globe face an unprecedented double-whammy. On one hand, the ongoing explosion of genetic and molecular knowledge gives pathologists and clinical laboratories incredible new tools for diagnosing disease and guiding therapy.

On the other hand, funding for government health programs in the United States and other developed countries is failing to keep pace with demand for health services and the need to pay for all the sophisticated molecular diagnostics and complex therapies now coming to market.

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