Swiss healthcare company Roche has agreed to acquire the point-of-care diagnostic platform business from the UK-based medical and dental instruments manufacturer LumiraDx.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay a $295m purchase price and an additional $55m as reimbursement payment to fund the platform until the closing of the acquisition.
The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2024, subject to conditions including antitrust and regulatory approvals.
Upon closing, the acquired entities will be fully integrated into Roche Diagnostics.
The transaction is part of a pre-packaged UK administration sale and is fully supported by LumiraDx group’s senior secured lender.
LumiraDx intends to use the proceeds from the sale to repay some of its debt, rather than distributing it among its shareholders.
LumiraDx CEO Veronique Ameye said: “Since our founding, we have sought to transform community-based healthcare by consolidating multiple Point of Care tests on a single instrument.
“We are thrilled that Roche will continue this important work and increase its reach around the globe. This will enable more patients to get fast and easy access to better diagnostic testing.”
Roche said that the transaction is in line with its strategy to enable more patient-centric healthcare, with point-of-care solutions that cover the entire patient journey.
The acquired diagnostic technology unit includes a broad range of immunoassay and clinical chemistry tests, which can be stored at room temperature.
LumiraDx’s point-of-care technology unit integrates multiple tests on a single instrument platform and brings more affordable and accessible testing to patients worldwide.
Roche said the acquired platform will complement its diagnostics portfolio across clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, coagulation and molecular, and multiple disease areas.
Roche Diagnostics CEO Matt Sause said: “The addition of the LumiraDx technology to our diagnostics portfolio will enable us to transform testing at the point of care.
“LumiraDx has developed a highly versatile platform that delivers strong performance across multiple disease areas and technologies. We believe this will enable better patient access to timely results in decentralised healthcare settings worldwide.”
In a separate development, LumiraDx appointed FTI Consulting’s Andrew Johnson, Lisa Rickelton and Lindsay Hallam as joint administrators of its subsidiaries, LumiraDx Group and LumiraDx International.
