Roche has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase specific point-of-care (POC) technologies from LumiraDx, including a range of immunoassays and clinical chemistry tests, for $295 million, with an additional payment of up to $55 million to fund the POC diagnostics platform business until the transaction closes.
In a statement, LumiraDx explained that Roche has agreed to acquire “certain companies of the LumiraDx group engaged in its point-of-care diagnostics platform business and certain related assets.” Through the purchase, Roche will acquire the POC technologies.
“The addition of the LumiraDx technology to our diagnostics portfolio will enable us to transform testing at the point of care,” Matt Sause, CEO of Roche Diagnostics, said in a statement. “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 decentralized healthcare settings worldwide.”
The completion of the acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including antitrust and regulatory approvals, and is anticipated to close in mid-2024, at which point the technologies will be fully integrated into Roche Diagnostics.
Along with the sale, LumiraDx announced the appointment of joint administrators for two of its subsidiaries, LumiraDx Group Limited and LumiraDx International Limited, which together hold substantially all of the assets of the LumiraDx group. The new joint administrators are Andrew Johnson, Lisa Rickelton, and Lindsay Hallam of FTI Consulting LLP. These administrators have signed the agreement with Roche.
The sale comes about after a year of transition for LumiraDx. The firm saw its revenues drop sharply in the first quarter of 2023 as it steered its business away from COVID-19 testing. As part of its strategic refocus and cost restructuring, the company announced it would be lay off approximately 40% of its global workforce in April.
In addition, Nasdaq issued a warning to LumiraDx last October that it would be delisted from the stock exchange after its share price fell below $1 for 30 consecutive days. The company said at the time that it planned to appeal.
According to LumiraDx, the proceeds from the sale will be used to repay outstanding amounts under a secured loan agreement; no proceeds will be distributed to the company or shareholders.
