Diagnostic Deals: A Roundup of the Key Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances, Licenses and Other Strategic Transactions From the Past Month

The past few weeks have brought snow to parts of the country that don’t usually see the white stuff, and a flurry of diagnostic deals. Although some pundits continue to speculate about a business slowdown, the outlook remains positive as winter inches toward spring.

Here’s a quick overview of the past month’s activity.

M&A
Thermo Fisher Scientific has been actively selling off its anatomical pathology business. Tokyo-based PHC Holdings (formerly known as Panasonic Healthcare Holdings) will acquire the business for $1.14 billion in cash, in order to expand its growing healthcare and diagnostic portfolio.

Meanwhile, Thermo Fisher Scientific is moving into other areas, acquiring a 9% stake in molecular diagnostics company Yourgene Health (formerly known as Premaitha Health) by exercising warrants it held in the company. Thermo Fisher could take ownership of up to 17% in Yourgene if it chooses to exercise other warrants it holds. The agreement between the companies calls for Yourgene to exclusively promote its noninvasive prenatal testing products on Thermo Fisher’s Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing systems in the Southeast Asia markets for three years.

Among deals that closed this period are the acquisition of molecular solutions company Invisible Sentinel by BioMérieux, and the acquisition of Boyce & Bynum Pathology Laboratories by Quest Diagnostics. Details for these and other M&As are provided in the chart below.

Strategic Alliances
Among new strategic alliances are several involving genetic testing, a field that continues to grow. And not all alliances are between businesses.

Horizon Discovery has entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with Rutgers University to develop and commercialize novel gene editing technology, known as base editing. The technology, which will augment Horizon’s research tools and services, potentially has applications in the development of new cell therapies. Details about this and other alliances are provided in the chart below.

Here’s a summary of key diagnostic deals from late January through late February: