Global medtech giant Becton, Dickinson and Co. is boosting its point-of-care testing offerings through its $40 million acquisition of Alverix Inc., a privately-held diagnostic instrument company.
Known for its optoelectronics expertise, Alverix has collaborated with BD since 2008 in the design and development of the BD Veritor System, used for detecting flu viruses in patients.
"Point-of-care testing is increasingly an integral part of patient healthcare in both developed and developing countries, and BD is committed to expanding in this space," says William A. Kozy, chief operating officer and executive vice president at BD.
Kozy said the acquisition, announced Tuesday, "enables BD to continue to strengthen and grow our point-of-care testing position."
The BD Veritor System for Rapid Detection of Flu A+B is a rapid chromatographic immunoassay for the direct and qualitative detection of influenza A and B viral nucleoprotein antigens from nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs of symptomatic patients. (Photo courtesy of Becton, Dickinson and Co.
Alverix says its next-generation instrument and connectivity platforms for diagnostic point-of-care testing systems "enable laboratory class performance in a mobile, inexpensive format." These systems are intended to "extend precision testing beyond high-volume sites to physician office labs, retail clinics, emerging markets and the home."
Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Alverix was spun off as a privately held company in 2007 from "a 30-year legacy within Hewlett Packard Co., Agilent Technologies, and Avago Technologies," according to the firm's LinkedIn page. The startup was accomplished with the help of $9.4 million from Safeguard Scientifics Inc. Prior to the acquisition Safeguard had a 49% primary ownership position in Alverix. Safeguard expects to receive aggregate cash proceeds of $17.5 million, which represents a nearly double cash-on-cash return.
"We deployed capital into Alverix with the notion that high performance near-patient testing was a significant market opportunity," says Gary J. Kurtzman, MD, managing director of healthcare at Safeguard and chairman of the board at Alverix.
"Alverix's platform technology, which is based on low-cost optoelectronic components and sophisticated detection algorithms, proved that laboratory quality results could be achieved at the point of care. BD saw value in Alverix's platform early on and has been co-developing and commercializing the BD Veritor System. As a result, BD was a natural acquirer to continue its investment in next-generation point-of-care instruments and platforms," Kurtzman says.
The BD Veritor System integrates advanced particle and adaptive read technology with a compact reader, providing healthcare providers an objective interpretation of diagnostic results within approximately 10 minutes.