Dive Brief:
- Roche reached an agreement to acquire LumiraDx’s point-of-care testing technology, the companies announced on Dec. 29.
- Roche will pay $295 million upfront and an additional amount up to $55 million to fund Lumira’s point-of-care technology platform business until the acquisition closes.
- The acquisition comes as Lumira faces a potential delisting amid declining revenue.
Dive Insight:
London-based Lumira offers multiple point-of-care tests on one portable device. The company currently has an authorized test in the U.S. for COVID-19 and lists tests for D-Dimer, HbA1c and a combination flu/COVID test among its other products.
Roche plans to add the point-of-care testing system to its diagnostics portfolio.
“We believe this will enable better patient access to timely results in decentralised healthcare settings worldwide,” Roche Diagnostics CEO Matt Sause said in a news release.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, more pharmacies, doctors’ offices and other sites began offering testing. Although demand for COVID-19 testing has since declined, diagnostics companies are developing a broader array of at-home and point-of-care tests.
Lumira, which says it has a pipeline of 30 assays, faces a delisting notice from Nasdaq as it grapples with declining sales. In the first six months of 2023, its revenue declined 75% to $43.2 million, and its stock has traded at less than $1 for more than a year.
In April, the company cut about 40% of its workforce as part of a cost-reduction program, and in November, the company’s CEO, chief technology officer and chief scientist all resigned “in light of the Company’s ongoing search for a viable long-term solution to the Company’s financial difficulties.”
Lumira disclosed in a Dec. 29 filing that it had named Andrew Johnson, Lisa Rickelton and Lindsay Hallam of FTI Consulting as joint administrators of Lumira’s assets. It also disclosed that Lumira had reached an agreement with Roche.
The company also said that it is unable to pay a loan of $361.8 million, which is now “immediately due.” As such, it is withdrawing an appeal to Nasdaq and expects to be delisted.
Lumira’s lenders, BioPharma Credit Investments V and BPCR Limited Partnership, have agreed to provide up to $59.2 million in funding to support the point-of-care diagnostics business until the transaction closes. Roche has agreed to reimburse them for up to $55 million.
The acquisition is subject to antitrust and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by mid-2024.
