Myriad Genetics, a molecular diagnostic company, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Crescendo Bioscience, a global provider of autoimmune diagnostics, for $270 million in cash which will be reduced by $25 million for the repayment of a loan made to Crescendo and customary adjustments in accordance with the acquisition agreement.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of Myriad's fiscal year 2014, pending satisfactory completion of customary closing items and regulatory approval. Myriad intends to fund the transaction entirely through cash on hand and anticipates having sufficient cash following the transaction to continue its current $300 million share repurchase program.

"Crescendo Bioscience fits well into our diagnostic portfolio that is focused on saving lives and improving the quality of life of patients across major diseases," said Peter D. Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics. "Crescendo has pioneered protein-based diagnostics for monitoring disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and this acquisition diversifies our business into a new high growth, multibillion dollar market opportunity. We are pleased to welcome the 130 employees of Crescendo to the Myriad team and look forward to the impact of this innovative and dedicated group on our organization."

"Crescendo has built a strong and growing position in the rheumatoid arthritis diagnostic market, and I believe Myriad will enable us to move to the next level in terms of scale and growth," said William Hagstrom, president and CEO of Crescendo Bioscience. "We envision multiple opportunities over the next several years where, as a combined company, we can expand our presence into international markets and provide new innovative products that help improve the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases."

Crescendo was founded in July 2002 and is a diagnostic laboratory for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Their core product, Vectra DA, is a quantitative, protein-based test to routinely assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and provide rheumatologists with expanded clinical insights to more effectively treat their patients. In the U.S., more than 1.5 million individuals suffer from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) resulting in over $11 billion in healthcare costs. Crescendo also is building a comprehensive understanding of the biology of other autoimmune diseases and has a pipeline of products under development for a wide range of diseases and conditions managed by rheumatologists. Crescendo additionally has created novel software products for physicians, including VectraView, which allows a comprehensive overview of all RA patients' level of disease activity and trends and MyRA, which is a patient tracking and communications tool.