Myth Fades as Roche Diagnostics Acquires LumiraDx's POCT Business for $295 Million

December 29, 2023, - LumiraDx announced the appointment of joint administrators for its two subsidiaries. The administrators have signed a final agreement,Sell Certain LumiraDx Group Businesses Related to LumiraDx Innovative POCT Technology to Roche。

It is reported that the newly appointed joint administrators are Andrew Johnson, Lisa Rickelton, and Lindsay Hallam from FTI Consulting LLP. The two subsidiaries are LumiraDx Group Limited and LumiraDx International Limited, respectively.Jointly hold nearly all assets of the LumiraDx Group.

On April 7, 2021, Bloomberg reported: Test Maker LumiraDx to Go Public in $5 Billion SPAC Deal. Diagnostic reagent maker LumiraDx goes public on Nasdaq through a SPAC deal at a valuation of $5 billion. This is the peak moment that all microfluidics companies aspire to.

However, reaching the peak right after debut,On the day of listingLumiraDxClosing with a market value of approximately $3 billion, it is now reduced to $20.07 million, with a loss per share of $1.34.

LumiraDx CEO Veronique Ameye said: "Since our establishment, we have consistently sought toIntegration of Multiple POC Tests on a Single Instrument to Transform Community Healthcare"We are delighted to reach this agreement with Roche as it will enable us to continue our important work and expand the global impact of our innovative technologies. This will allow more patients to quickly and easily access better diagnostic tests."

The full sales revenue from the anticipated transaction is expected to be used to repay certain outstanding amounts under the company's senior secured loan agreement.And there will be no sales revenue allocated to the company or its shareholders.. The appointment of the administrator and the sale to Roche are the results of the previously announced strategic review process led by Goldman Sachs Group, LLC for LumiraDx.

LumiraDx may not be a well-known company, but its founder's name is very familiar to those in the POCT industry: Ron Zwanziger.

If you are not familiar with Ron Zwanziger, the name Alere might ring a bell—this is the founder of Alere, once the dominant force in the POCT industry!

Ron Zwanziger

Alere was once the world's leading POCT (Point-of-Care Testing) manufacturer, accounting for 20% of the global POCT market share (excluding blood glucose monitoring).

Alere was originally founded by Ron Zwanziger in 1991. The company was initially named Self Care and later renamed to Inverness.

Ron Zwanziger started with just a few thousand dollars, and the company grew rapidly.

In 1996, a portion of the blood glucose business Medisense was sold to Abbott for $880 million.

In 2001, another portion of the blood glucose business, Self-testing, was sold to Johnson & Johnson for $1.3 billion.

The first bucket of gold was accumulated through these two transactions. In 2010, Inverness consolidated the brands of more than 60 subsidiaries under its umbrella and renamed them as Alere, creating a more well-known POCT brand.

On April 14, 2017, Abbott and Alere jointly announced that Abbott would acquire Alere at a price of $51 per share, for a total amount of approximately $5.3 billion.

LumiraDx has been extremely sharp in mergers and acquisitions, having acquired more than 100 companies to date, including numerous "small and beautiful" POCT companies. Some of the major acquisitions are listed below:

Acquired German Clondiag in 2006;

Acquisition of Abon's rapid diagnostic business in Hangzhou in 2006;

In 2007, it snatched Biosite from Beckman, establishing its leadership in toxicology and cardiac markers;

In 2007, acquired health management companies Aleremedical and Paradigm Health;

In 2010, the acquisition of South Korea's Standard Diagnostics expanded its presence in the infectious disease field;

Acquired Axis-shield in 2011, obtaining Nycocard and Affinion;

In 2013, it acquired Epocal Inc. of Canada, bringing the Epoc blood gas analysis system under its umbrella.

Ron Zwanziger-controlled LumiraDx has the most impressive product portfolio in the POCT industry through mergers and acquisitions.

LumiraDx Dream Team

Ron Zwanziger's profound understanding of the POCT industry was ahead of his contemporaries.

LumiraDx's Four Major Product Lines: Infectious Diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases; Toxicology Testing; Early Pregnancy. Do they look familiar? That's right, the product lines of Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech are basically a complete match for LumiraDx.

Next, let's look at LumiraDx's products.