Siemens Healthineers, the healthcare unit of Siemens recently announced its decision to acquire Epocal Inc., a subsidiary of Alere Inc, a global manufacturer of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Epocal Inc offers point of care blood diagnostic systems for healthcare enterprises, including epoc Blood Analysis System. This acquisition will bring the handheld epoc Blood Analysis System into Siemens' blood gas diagnostics line.
Blood gas test systems are an important component in critical care settings such as hospitals, clinics, emergency departments and pulmonary laboratories. epoc handheld system is the wireless bedside testing solution to use Smart Card technology. It provides blood gas, electrolyte and metabolite results near the patient in approximately 30 seconds after sample introduction. The system is comprised of the epoc® room-temperature stable BGEM smart card, epoc® reader and epoc® host2 mobile computer. SmartCard technology simplifies point-of-care BGEM testing.
This acquisition is an instance of Siemens Healthineers' strategic goal to support healthcare providers worldwide to meet their challenges and excel in their respective environments. With a complete offering for blood gas diagnostics from low-volume, single-use handheld devices up to a high-volume, multi-use benchtop solution, Siemens can help customers improve their workflows and utilize the correct system for their particular settings.
According to Peter Koerte, President, Point of Care Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers, "We want to help our customers innovate care delivery. As one of the market leaders in blood gas, the acquisition of the epoc® product line will enable us to provide the right solution in the right setting, all from one partner. The epoc® product line will seamlessly integrate with our digital ecosystem offering customers the broadest solution available in the market. The acquisition complements our existing offerings in the point of care diagnostics space, with a view to provide customers globally with a full range of blood gas solutions."
Financial details of this transaction have not been disclosed. However, the transaction is subject to the completion of Abbott's acquisition of Alere, as well as antitrust approvals and other customary closing conditions.
To learn more about Siemens Healthineers we have written a new blog Siemens Healthineers Completes Epocal Acquisition from Alere on November 6, 2017.