Acquisition of Human Longevity’s oncology division for $37m demonstrates both the opportunities and challenges for Longevity investing.

On Friday, NeoGenomics announced that it had agreed to purchase Human Longevity’s Oncology division for $37 million, in a deal financed by cash in hand [1]. The acquisition is the largest made by NeoGenomics since it bought Genoptix for $127 million in October 2018 [2].

Last year Human Longevity’s Oncology division generated in $10million in revenue and ended the year with $15 million in signed contracts [3]. In the short term at least, NeoGenomics believes the acquisition will be dilutive of their profits for 2020 before starting to generate dividends.

There have been signs of uncertainty around Human Longevity for some time. Back in November, we picked up on emerging issues at Human Longevity when they bridged $30 million deal with Emerging Technology Partners. After a cumulative investment of $330 million, the question has to be asked whether this represents sound ROI for investors?

It’s hard to say because Human Longevity’s communications are so opaque. In a statement, they describe their key areas as being diabetes, obesity, heart disease, liver disease and dementia, so it is possible that this disposal simply allows them to focus on other areas. However, it may also be the start of further disposals.

A summary of comments on the website Glassdoor in which current and former staff anonymously review companies highlights the challenges as well as opportunities.
On the positive side are comments such as these:

• “With the current leadership, HLI has been more productive in the last six months than the company has ever been.”
• “Although past business decisions have been frustrating, I would like to attribute that to HLI trying to be disruptive in the field.”

On the flip-side:

• “The company is making new strides within Genetics/Genomics and as such runs into new hurdles that weren’t there the day before.”
• “How do you expect to create a product with folks with lack of experience and knowledge are made in-charge of guiding product development.”

These comments highlight both the opportunities and challenges of Longevity investing in an emerging field. Whatever the truth of the matter at Human Longevity Inc, we wish the staff and management well.

[1] http://bit.ly/30l0FAP
[2] https://genoptix.com/neogenomics-completes-acquisition-of-genoptix-inc/
[3] https://eu.news-press.com/story/money/companies/2020/01/10/neogenomics-acquires-oncology-division-human-longevity-inc/4431269002/