A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) reported that it will acquire Raytel Cardiac Services (RCS; Windsor, Connecticut), a division of Raytel Medical, and other operations from SHL Telemedicine (Tel Aviv, Israel), for about $110 million in cash. RCS will become part of Philips’ Home Healthcare Solutions group.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

RCS provides home cardiac monitoring services that doctors prescribe to heart patients.

Ron Feinstein, CEO of Philips’ Home Healthcare Solutions, said, “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the West. So Philips has invested heavily over the year, to become the top supplier to hospitals of medical equipment for managing heart disease.... . [W]e’re looking for innovative and effective ways to support both patients and the healthcare system. Raytel can help us extend the cardiac care cycle into the home, which is where patients prefer to stay, and where we see opportunities for addressing healthcare costs as well as quality of life issues.”

Philips said that the activities acquired are expected to have 2007 sales of about $55 million, and that it will capitalize on RCS’s existing relationships with 15,000 physicians and cardiologists who serve more than 200,000 patients a year for its Lifeline products and service and its in-house remote patient monitoring products and services.

New products and services based on Philips’ and SHL’s products and solutions, such as congestive heart failure (CHF) monitoring in the home, are also expected to fuel growth, the company said. Given that Philips Lifeline’s 750,000 subscribers often suffer from a variety of chronic illnesses, including CHF, Philips said it expects they also will benefit from a cardiac monitoring service supported by trained cardiac technicians that Raytel offers.

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that it has acquired UK-based Bio-Stat Healthcare Group, a distributor of both core laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic testing products to the UK market place, for about $33.4 million.

In addition, IMI will pay an earn-out up to a maximum of about $14.6 million based on Bio-Stat’s 2007 results.

Bio-Stat reported revenues of about $29.5 million in 2006.

“This acquisition significantly enhances our presence in the UK market,” said Ron Zwanziger, CEO of IMI.

IDJ International acted as financial advisor and Allen & Overy as legal counsel to IMI. Grant Thornton UK acted as financial advisor and Heatons acted as legal counsel to Bio-Stat.

IMI is a developer of rapid point-of-care diagnostics.

IMI also reported last week that it will acquire all the shares of Panbio (Brisbane, Australia) for 65 cents a share in cash.

The proposal, which values the issued share capital of Panbio at about A$41 million ($37 million), is subject to approval by Panbio shareholders, at a meeting expected to be held in December, and other conditions.

Panbio develops diagnostic tests, including those used in the diagnosis of flaviviruses and other arthropod-borne viruses, selling worldwide. IMI said Panbio’s position in the dengue fever diagnostic market will help it achieve its goal of responding to the recent spread of the disease throughout South America and elsewhere.

Panbio is traded on the Australian Securities Exchange.

• RadNet (Los Angeles), a provider of diagnostic imaging services through a network of owned and operated outpatient centers, yesterday reported that it has acquired Liberty Pacific Imaging Center (Encino, California) for $2.8 million.

The center operates an MRI practice using a 3T MRI unit, the strongest magnet strength commercially available at this time, the center said. The center was founded in 2003.

RadNet said the acquisition allows it to consolidate a portion of its Encino/Tarzana MRI volume onto the existing Liberty Pacific scanner. This consolidation will make available RadNet’s existing 3T MRI unit in that market, which will be moved to RadNet’s Squadron facility in Rockland County, New York.

Additionally, RadNet will add a 64-slice PET/CT unit to the Liberty Pacific center, which will create increased capacity for its expanding PET/CT business in this market. Furthermore, the installation of the 64-slice PET/CT technology will enable RadNet to effectively perform certain specialized cardiovascular imaging, which has gained increased clinical and third-party payor support in recent months.