ArcherDX agrees to acquisition by genetics tester Invitae for up to $1.4B

BOULDER and SAN FRANCISCO — Just weeks after it filed for a $100 million initial public offering, Boulder genomics testing company ArcherDX Inc. is being acquired by Invitae Inc. (NYSE: NVTA).

Invitae will pay $325 million in cash and 30 million shares of its stock to ArcherDX’s investors upon the transaction’s closure, and may issue an additional 27 million shares upon reaching certain milestones. The companies value the deal at up to $1.4 billion.

Invitae stock spiked in early trading Monday, gaining 40.51% to reach $26.29 as of 9:15 a.m. Mountain Time.

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The San Francisco-based Invitae develops genetic tests to determine which treatments may be best-suited toward combating certain types of cancer, a similar endeavor to ArcherDX. In a statement Monday morning, it said it plans to integrate ArcherDX’s technology into its single platform.

“Integrating all aspects of cancer genetics can transform care for patients and the flexibility that comes from both centralized and decentralized capabilities will uniquely position Invitae to meet the needs of customers worldwide,” said Invitae CEO Sean George.

The companies also view Stratafide, ArcherDX’s broad-based cancer genomics test, as near-term revenue driver. That technology, which is slated to be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this year for final approval, was the cornerstone of ArcherDX’s claim to a $45 billion cancer-testing market as laid out in its IPO documentation. Until now, the company mainly drew revenue from building companion tests for treatments developed by large pharmaceutical firms.

It’s unclear how this deal will affect ArcherDX’s job count in Boulder or its continued operations in Colorado. As of Monday morning, it has not made any alterations to its IPO filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or filed any other disclosures.

Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment Monday morning.

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