Tandem Labs
Lenexa, Kansas - March 2, 2004 - LabOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: LABS) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of the drug testing division, Northwest Toxicology, from NWT, Inc., Salt Lake City. Northwest Toxicology has been a leading SAMHSA-certified laboratory since 1989. The combination of LabOne and Northwest Toxicology will result in an extensive product offering, including testing for drugs of abuse in urine, oral fluid and hair, specimen validity testing, esoteric drug testing, and medical professional drug testing. Although LabOne anticipates that some of the urine and oral fluid testing will be redirected to its Lenexa facility, both Northwest Toxicology and LabOne will maintain their SAMSHA certifications for testing federally regulated clients. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The companies anticipate completing the transaction by early March 2004.
"We see this acquisition as an exciting combination of two leaders," said W. Thomas Grant II, chairman, president and CEO of LabOne. "Both companies have traditions of customer service and commitment to the drug testing industry. With our leadership in oral fluid testing, web reporting solutions and technology, and Northwest's scientific and esoteric testing expertise, we are bringing together two companies with clearly defined and complementary skill sets."
"We are very enthusiastic and pleased to partner NWT's drugs of abuse testing business with an outstanding company like LabOne," said Denis Lin, president and CEO of NWT, Inc. "The services of Northwest Toxicology coupled with LabOne's major presence in the industry will provide for exciting opportunities at an excellent time in the marketplace. Upon closing, NWT, Inc. will focus its efforts on growing and expanding its Tandem Labs' pharmaceutical bioanalytical contract research business."
Headquartered in the Greater Kansas City area, LabOne is a diagnostic services provider. The services and information LabOne and its subsidiaries provide include: risk assessment information services for the insurance industry; diagnostic healthcare testing to physicians, managed care organizations and employers; and drug testing services and related employee qualification products to employers.
Northwest Toxicology, a division of NWT, Inc., is a privately held SAMHSA-certified laboratory based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Northwest Toxicology was founded in 1981 and has grown to become one of the world's foremost leaders in drugs-of-abuse and adulterant testing.
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