Marc Stapley is kicking off his first day as CEO of Veracyte with a high-profile deal. The South San Francisco-based company has the IVD space buzzing as it is in agreement to acquire HalioDx for $319 million in a deal set to close 3Q21. The transaction will consist of $180 million in cash and up to about $138 million in stock.

Marseille, France-based HalioDx is an immune-oncology diagnostics company that provides oncologists and drug development organizations with products and services to guide cancer care and contribute to precision medicine.

The company is known for its flagship Immunoscore assay for assessing the immune contexture of a tumor as a key determinant of patients’ outcomes and response to cancer treatments. 

Acquiring HalioDx would enable Veracyte to develop and manufacture test kits for the nCounter diagnostic platform. Vercayte executives said plans call for the company to transition manufacturing of the kits, currently produced by NanoString, to HalioDx’s manufacturing facility in Marseille, France. This would further accelerate the expansion of the test menu on the nCounter platform in Europe and other strategic global markets.

The deal would also help expand Veracyte’s cancer diagnostics scope to 8 of the 10 top cancers by U.S. incidence. 

“Adding HalioDx to Veracyte is a strategic investment that we believe will position the company to unlock its growth potential,” Stapley said in a release. “With this acquisition, we will have the parts needed to expand our business globally.”

Stapley has assumed the role of CEO from Bonnie Anderson, who announced in May she was stepping down. Anderson co-founded Veracyte in 2008 and, as CEO, led the company through its IPO in 2013 has spearheaded commercialization of its products, and has played a key role in positioning the company for global expansion using its own distributed instrument platform.

Anderson, who is staying on as an active executive chairman, will oversee the completion of the HalioDx acquisition and lead the strategic integration.