Pressed for time? Here's the medtech news you need most, in one minute or less.

Amanda Pedersen

April 19, 2021

2 Min Read
Medtech news
Graphic by Amanda Pedersen / MD+DI

'Tis the Season of Mega Medtech Mergers

Last week was another big week for medtech deals. The week kicked off with news that Microsoft plans to acquire Nuance, a cloud and AI software specialist with a focus on healthcare, for $19.7 billion. Also on Monday, Diasorin announced it would acquire Luminex for $1.8 billion. Later in the week, Thermo Fisher Scientific said it will acquire PPD, a provider of clinical research services to the pharma and biotech industry, in a deal valued at about $17.4 billion. Finally, the week wrapped up with news that D8 Holdings plans to acquire Vicarious Surgical in a deal valued at $1.1 billion that would also make Vicarious Surgical a publicly-traded company.

And in case you missed our last Medtech in a Minute report...

FTC Blocks Illumina-Grail Deal

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail, a liquid biopsy specialist. If FTC is successful, San Diego, CA-based Illumina would fail to bring Grail, the company it launched in 2016, back into the fold. The agency alleges that the proposed deal will diminish innovation in the U.S. market for multi-cancer early detection tests. These types of tests could be used to detect up to 50 types of cancer, most of which are not screened for at all today, saving millions of lives around the world.

Varian Gets an Assist from Google Cloud in Cancer Effort

Google Cloud AI tech will help Varian create AI models for organ segmentation – a crucial and labor-intensive step in radiation oncology that can be a bottleneck in the cancer treatment clinical workflow. The resulting AI segmentation engine will be "trained" to create customized auto-segmentation models for organs in the body. Varian said it intends to incorporate these models into its treatment planning software tools for use in cancer centers around the world.

Hologic's M&A Hot Streak Continues

Hologic plans to acquire Mobidiag Oy, a molecular diagnostics firm, for about $795 million. The deal is expected to close early in 4Q21.

About the Author(s)

Amanda Pedersen

Amanda Pedersen is a veteran journalist and award-winning columnist with a passion for helping medical device professionals connect the dots between the medtech news of the day and the bigger picture. She has been covering the medtech industry since 2006.

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