Horizon Discovery Acquires Sage Labs

Horizon Discovery Group has entered an agreement to acquire Sage Labs Inc. for as much as $16 million in cash and $32 million through the issue of new shares. Sage generates advanced in vivo transgenic disease models for use in preclinical research, which builds on Horizon’s acquisition of CombinatoRx in July, positioning the company among the leading gene-editing companies and provider of services at all stages of translational genomics and personalized medicine research from sequence to treatment.
   
Horizon gains exclusive access to ZFN for in vivo model generation and certain exclusive and non-exclusive CRISPR in vivo-related intellectual property (IP). Assets and capabilities acquired include a custom engineered in vivo model development service, an inventory of ready to use in vivo models and an inventory of molecularly annotated patient-derived xenograft (PDx) models and custom development capabilities.
 
Horizon will focus on expanding Sage’s predominantly U.S. customer base by increasing its presence in Europe, Japan and beyond via access to Horizon’s business development and commercial infrastructure and an almost 1,000 strong customer base. The acquired business will be known as Sage Labs Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Discovery Group plc.
 
Dr. David Smoller, formerly chief executive officer of Sage, will serve as Horizon’s chief business officer, and Dr. Edward Weinstein will serve as general manager of Sage.The acquisition is expected to close in October 2014.
 
Dr. Darrin M Disley, chief executive officer of Horizon Discovery Group plc, said, “The acquisition positions Horizon as the world-leader in gene-editing and at the forefront of technological advances in the field of translational genomics. The consolidated offering significantly strengthens Horizon commercially, allowing us to offer product, service and R&D programs to customers engaged at every stage of translational genomics and personalized medicine research from sequence to treatment.”
 
Dr. Smoller added: “I am excited that Sage has become a part of Horizon’s important mission.  Horizon is now the destination for researchers and scientists worldwide to find both in vivo and in vitro solutions to their biological questions.  The addition of Sage now positions Horizon as the true leader in genomics and gene-editing.”