HemaCare Corporation has completed the sale of its Coral Blood Services subsidiary to the New York Blood Center . Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Coral’s 24 employees have been offered equivalent positions at NYBC.
In addition, NYBC and HemaCare have signed an agreement granting HemaCare access to NYBC’s 22 metro New York area collection centers. This allows HemaCare to further support the skilled, standardized apheresis collection services required for cell therapy and immunotherapy clinical trials of HemaCare’s rapidly growing list of BioResearch Products and Services customers.
Researchers and product developers require the most consistent, standardized primary human cells, obtained from an FDA-registered, GMP/GTP-compliant collection facility, and processed to purify specific cell populations. HemaCare alone meets this need for extremely consistent, high-quality primary human cells, collected in an FDA-registered facility, in accordance with GMP/GTP requirements. HemaCare’s ability to access a growing network of collection centers, established expertise in GMP/GTP apheresis collection, and cell purification capabilities allow the Company to support developers of cell therapy and immunotherapy products from initial preclinical research, to clinical trials, and ultimately commercialization.
Commenting on the transaction, Pete van der Wal, HemaCare’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our relationship with NYBC expedites HemaCare’s increasing focus on the rapidly growing global cellular and immunotherapy markets. Our budding BioResearch Products and Services division supports researchers and product developers along the entire continuum from preclinical R&D, through Phase I, II, and III clinical trials, to commercialization.”
“With our acquisition of Coral Blood Services, we hope to synergize our strengths to better serve our partner hospitals and their patients,” said NYBC President and CEO Christopher D. Hillyer, MD. “For the past month, we have been working with Coral to ensure a seamless transition for the hospitals and patients they serve. NYBC looks forward to incorporating the best practices of both organizations to ensure a high quality and customer-focused service for all of our hospitals and patients.”
HemaCare also reported its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2013. For the six month period, revenue rose by 3% to $7.16 million, while the loss from continuing operations increased by 54% to $1,639,000 when compared to the year-earlier period. The results of the operations of Coral Blood Services are reported as discontinued operations on the statement of operations, and as assets held for sale with related liabilities on the balance sheet. (Also included in discontinued operations in 2012 is the liability dismissal write off of HemaCare BioScience in January 2012.) For comparison purposes, the June 30, 2012 statement of operations and the December 31, 2012 balance sheet have been restated for this presentation.
Commenting on the results, van der Wal stated, “First half results were impacted by continuing challenges in our legacy businesses, but we have accelerated our investment into our BioResearch Products and Services division in order to capitalize on the opportunity in this fragmented, but fast-growing, market niche. Given our exceptional combination of core competencies, and with this new significant cash infusion from the Coral sale, we are uniquely positioned to provide our customers a superior value proposition.”
