Roche Buys IQuum, Bolsters Molecular Diagnostics Division

By Ryan Brinks

Roche recently acquired IQuum, a molecular diagnostic testing equipment firm based in Marlborough, MA, in a deal that could net IQuum shareholders up to $450 million.

According to the Roche press release, Roche is to pay $275 million initially and as much as $175 million more based on product-related milestones.

The deal is intended to strengthen Roche's diagnostics unit.

“With IQuum, we further strengthen our molecular diagnostics offerings with cutting-edge technology and products that serve the point-of-care segment,” said Roland Diggelmann, chief operating officer at Roche, in the press release. “Patients will benefit from on-the-spot and accurate diagnoses, which will allow health care professionals to make rapid, informed treatment decisions in flexible settings.”

With the acquisition, Roche will have access to IQuum’s proprietary laboratory-in-a-tube technology that “enables healthcare workers to perform rapid molecular diagnostic testing in a point of care setting, closer to patients and with minimal training,” according to the press release. “The Laboratory-in-a-tube Analyzer and Laboratory-in-a-tube Influenza A/B Assay, the first test available for use on the system, produce reliable and accurate lab-like results and are CE marked and FDA cleared.”

Roche’s professional and molecular diagnostic divisions made headlines earlier this year when an advisory committee at the FDA unanimously recommended  the use of Roche's HPV test over Pap smears, according to news coverage by the Indianapolis Business Journal.

“Through technological and scientific advancement, we now have a better screening tool for cervical cancer. Women around the world deserve the best tool to know their risk and reduce their chances of developing cervical cancer,” said Roland Diggelmann, chief operating officer at Roche.