10 Deals That Shook up the Diagnostics Industry 3

Roche Gets Ventana in the End
Roche went through a lot (and we do mean a lot) to acquire Ventana Medical Systems. The Basel, Switzerland-based company made offers and even tried a hostile takeover attempt to pick up the molecular diagnostics firm. In the end – and after (seven months of trying) Roche managed to acquire Ventana for about $3.4 billion. The deal stands out because it contributed to Roche’s push into molecular diagnostics.
 
Long Live Mega-Mergers
When Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) first made moves to acquire CareFusion, there weren’t many medtech mega-mergers out there. Sure you had Medtronic/Covidien and Zimmer/Biomet, but that was about it. However, BD, which manufactured medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products, completely reinforced the idea that mega-mergers were here to stay in the medtech industry, when it announced it would pick up CareFusion for $12.2 billion.
 
The Abbott and Alere Saga
Ah Abbott and Alere. The merger that almost wasn’t? Perhaps now the merged company can look back and fondly reminisce over the series of events that led to the acquisition. But when it was happening in real time? Probably not so much. Abbott, after announcing the acquisition, was "blindsided by disclosures that Alere was the subject of U.S. Department of Justice probes into its overseas business practices, its billing of Medicare, and the reliability of a product line. Consequently, Abbott insisted Alere provide more information about those three federal investigations, and, in April, it even offered Alere tens of millions of dollars to terminate the planned acquisition altogether.  Alere rejected that offer. Also in April, Alere was "stunned" to learn of Abbott's intent to buy Minneapolis-based St. Jude Medical Inc. for $25 billion. Alere brought a rather juicy lawsuit forth,  charging Abbott with covertly planning to sink the merger altogether. However, both sides were eventually able to work things out and Abbott ended up acquiring Alere for $5 billion in 2017.