(By Balachander) Opko Health Inc. (NYSE: OPK) has agreed to acquire a Brazilian pharmaceutical company in a move to strengthen its presence in Latin America.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Miami, Florida-based company is acquiring Silcon Comercio, providing near-term launch of its prostate cancer test 4Kscore in the Brazilian market.
"The acquisition allows OPKO to satisfy regulatory requirements for doing business in Brazil, which might otherwise be a prolonged process," Opko said. Silcon expands OPKO's presence in Latin America and complements business activities of units in Chile and Mexico.
Opko is developing molecular diagnostics tests to identify molecules or immunobiomarkers for Alzheimer?s disease, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer, and other cancers.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $4.00 to $5.53, rose 2.16 percent to trade at $4.74 on Wednesday.