The 18 stocks in the G-2 Diagnostic Stock Index dropped an average of 9% in the month of June, with 16 stocks down in price and two up. The dip in the G-2 index mirrors that of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, which were each also down 9% for the month.

While June saw OraSure and Clinical Data plummet 31% and 25%, respectively, deal news kept the share prices of some IVD companies afloat in a tough market. Third Wave Technologies gained 5% for the month, with a June 30 closing price of $11.16 per share and a market capitalization of $493 million. On June 9, women’s health-focused Hologic announced that it had agreed to acquire Third Wave, known for its proprietary Invader test platform. The purchase price of $11.25 per share, or approximately $580 million, represented a premium of about 24 percent to Third Wave's average trading price over the last three months. On June 25, Hologic announced that the Federal Trade Commission had cleared the deal, granting the company an "early termination" of its antitrust review.

Meridian Biosciences slipped 8%, ending the month with a share price of $26.92 and a market capitalization of $1.11 billion. On June 19, the company completed its $653,000 acquisition of technologies and products from Vybion. Meridian plans to use the infectious disease recombinant proteins and cardiac antigens in its infectious disease diagnostic tests as well as for tests that monitor protein levels in HCV, HIV, HSV, and cardiac disease.

However, even molecular diagnostics companies on the rise in recent weeks lost ground in June. Shares in Nanosphere fell 18% to $7.86 a share for a market capitalization of $174 million. The developer and manufacturer of the Verigene system recently announced first quarter revenue of $576,000 compared with $270,000 in the first quarter of 2007. “Revenue growth was driven by initial product sales comprised [of] Verigene instruments, reagent rental agreements, and test cartridges,” noted CFO Roger Moody on a conference call with investors.

Nanosphere is now commercializing its ultra-sensitive test for cardiac troponin. On the same conference call, CEO and President William Moffitt noted that the company recently initiated “a comprehensive marketing program to begin to position our assay.” Next to launch on the Verigene platform will be a cystic fibrosis test, which is now in clinical trials. Added Moffitt, “Additional assays in development scheduled for commercialization over the coming quarters include a respiratory panel, with expectations that we would be in the market by the ’08 [or] ’09 flu season.”

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