With multiple large M&A deals already announced in January, CEOs of major med-tech companies outlining acquisition plans for 2025 and declining interest rates, the stage is set for a significantly more active year of M&A. Financings, too, have ticked up and analysts expect the trend to continue, offering hope for a positive year for the med-tech industry.
Electrocore Inc. Quell(ed) any concerns about its commitment to the bioelectronic health segment with an agreement to acquire Neurometrix Inc., maker of the Quell, a wearable device and cloud-enabled neuromodulation platform to treat fibromyalgia and lower extremity chronic pain. Neurometrix is expected to divest its other primary product, Dpncheck, a point-of-care screening test for diabetic peripheral neuropathy, prior to the acquisition.
Illumina Inc. wasted no time in returning to the M&A front, closing the acquisition of Fluent Biosciences Inc. on July 9 with cash on hand, just a fortnight after freeing itself of Grail Inc. Fluent’s single-cell analysis technology expands Illumina’s presence in the life sciences, possibly marking a turn away from the diagnostics focus that led to the Grail debacle. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
The years’ long effort by activist investor Politan Capital Management LP to take control of the Masimo Corp. board of directors and oust Masimo CEO and founder Joe Kiani took a turn for the weird this week as news emerged that Masimo Chief Operating Officer Bilal Muhsin notified the board that he would step down if Kiani were pushed out.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Pathai Inc. established a forward-looking deal with multiple components and room for growth. The collaboration includes Quest’s acquisition of Pathai Diagnostics – the division that provides anatomic and digital pathology laboratory services – and licensing of Pathai’s Aisight digital pathology image management system. The companies also said they may work together on development of Pathai’s algorithm products and that Quest will be a preferred provider for Pathai’s biopharmaceutical clinical laboratory services.
Diasorin SpA sold its Flow Cytometry and Imaging (FCI) business unit to Cytek Biosciences Inc. for $46.5 million in cash. That’s quite a drop from the $75 million price Diasorin subsidiary Luminex Corp. paid Milleporesigma for the FCI assets in 2018. The companies expect the sale to close within 30 days.
PARIS – Diagnostic Medical Systems SA (DMS) is spinning off its medical imaging division into Asit Biotech NV. This agreement, between two firms listed on the Euronext exchange, involves French med-tech company DMS merging its flourishing medical imaging business with the Belgian biopharmaceutical firm and acquiring a controlling stake in the company.
Lumithera Inc. will acquire Diopsys Inc. for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock transaction expected to close in the next few months. The deal has been approved by shareholders of both companies. Together, they plan to form a theranostic company that can provide a continuum of care for patients with age-related macular degeneration and other degenerative ocular diseases or injury.
Alivecor Inc. is partnering with blockchain technology company Solve.Care to connect users of its Kardiamobile device to physicians through a telehealth network. Tallinn, Estonia-based Solve.Care’s blockchain platform, the Global Telehealth Exchange (GTHE), is an open global cross-border telehealth network currently available in 27 countries. Alivecor’s Kardiamobile 6L device is the first and only six-lead personal ECG cleared by the FDA. Through the partnership, Kardiamobile devices will be integrated with GTHE where physicians will be able to access a user’s electrocardiogram (ECG) reading upon their consent through teleconsultations.
The parent company of digital health unicorn Everlywell Inc. is expanding its portfolio of women’s health products through the acquisition of Charleston, S.C.-based startup Natalist Inc. The purchase marks Everly Health’s third acquisition of the year following agreements to buy national clinician network PWN Health and home lab testing company Home Access Health Corp. Financial terms of all deals were not disclosed. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Everly Health will add Natalist’s suite of reproductive products to its existing tests for menopause, fertility hormones and sexual health.