OPKO Health, Inc., a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company, has entered into an agreement to acquire Laboratorio Arama de Uruguay Limitada (Arama). Domiciled in Montevideo, Uruguay, Arama will add to our growing South American presence in the important Mercosur economic region while further complementing our business activities in Chile, Mexico and Brazil. The transaction is expected to close in January 2014.

This purchase is consistent with OPKO's strategy of acquiring small, growing pharmaceutical companies which provide a platform to commercialize existing and future OPKO products while enhancing commercial synergies among our various units.

"We continue to broaden our commercial prospects through investments that complement our existing businesses and bolster the global reach of our robust product pipeline," said Phillip Frost, chairman and CEO of OPKO. "This acquisition will allow OPKO to establish a footprint in Uruguay and facilitate future sales and commercial expansion into neighbouring Argentina. In the near term, Arama provides another platform for the commercialization of our 4Kscore, a novel panel of biomarkers and associated algorithm to more accurately detect and grade possible prostate cancers."

OPKO is a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company that seeks to establish industry leading positions in large, rapidly growing markets by leveraging its discovery, development and commercialization expertise and novel and proprietary technologies.