OpGen and Curetis Successfully Close their Business Combination Transaction
04.01.20
Following strong support from shareholders, OpGen and Curetis consummated their business combination transaction
Curetis business now wholly owned by OpGen Inc. as parent company
New leadership team and board of directors announced
GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen”), a precision medicine company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and informatics to help combat infectious disease, announced today that the business combination between Curetis and OpGen has successfully closed on April 1, 2020. At the closing, William E. Rhodes III, the former chairman of the Supervisory Board of Curetis N.V., was appointed chairman of the board of OpGen, and Oliver Schacht, PhD, the former Chief Executive Officer of Curetis N.V., was appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer of OpGen and to the board of directors.
Mr. Rhodes commented, “I would like to thank the management teams of both our companies for their perseverance and effectiveness in finding solutions to address the issues that arise in complex business combinations. It has always been important to bring rapid molecular diagnostics to the fight against infectious diseases, and with the global coronavirus pandemic, now it is more critical than ever. The combined company will have a broad portfolio of complementary platforms, highly relevant products designed to help discover and fight life threatening infectious diseases and strong global commercial channels. I am delighted to be chairing this distinguished board of directors and anticipate tremendous, value-creating opportunities for the combined company.”
Mr. Schacht said, “I am grateful to both our companies’ boards and shareholders for their unwavering support throughout the past many months of strategic interactions and discussions between our companies. This transaction would not have been possible without the tremendous commitment of our executive teams and advisors. I would like to especially thank Evan Jones for his leadership and support over the past many months. With Bill Rhodes as our past and future chairman and with Evan on the board of directors we will have great continuity.”
In addition to Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Schacht, Mario Crovetto and Prabhavathi Fernandes, former directors of Curetis, were appointed to the OpGen board of directors, such that following the closing the reconstituted board of directors consists of Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Schacht, Mr. Jones. Mr. Crovetto, Ms. Fernandes, and Don Elsey.
Strengthened Senior Management team
The executive officers of OpGen in addition to Chief Executive Officer Oliver Schacht will be Tim Dec, who will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer and manage the finance and G&A teams globally, and Johannes Bacher, one of Curetis’ founders as Chief Operating Officer who will be running global R&D and operations. The Curetis USA Inc. team will be joining OpGen Inc. as employees. The US commercial team includes Chief Commercial Officer for the Americas, Chris Emery, and Chief Marketing and Scientific Affairs Officer, Faranak Atrzadeh. Andreas Posch, CEO of Ares Genetics GmbH in Vienna, Austria, will also serve on the expanded executive team bringing AI-powered and NGS-based capabilities into the combined business.
Evan Jones, the former Chairman & CEO of OpGen added, “I am excited to announce today’s closing of the business combination with Curetis. I would like thank all our shareholders for the overwhelming support throughout this process and the teams on both sides for having diligently worked with a singular focus on getting the deal done. We anticipate this business combination will maximize value for our shareholders through providing a robust product portfolio with proprietary assets for developing and commercializing innovative, data-driven solutions in infectious disease diagnostics. I look forward to serving as a member of the newly constituted board of directors of OpGen as a non-executive director, and I will provide any support needed by Oliver and his new leadership team throughout the transition and integration phase as needed.”
OpGen and Curetis had entered into a definitive agreement to combine their businesses on September 4, 2019. H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as strategic advisor to Curetis while Crosstree acted as advisor to OpGen. Ballard Spahr LLP served as legal counsel to OpGen and Linklaters LLP as legal counsel to Curetis.