Roche acquires German diagnostics company Verum for €11m

Swiss pharma company Roche has acquired Verum Diagnostica for €11m as part of its plans to build a comprehensive coagulation testing portfolio.

Munich-based Verum is subsidiary of Dynabyte Informationssysteme and a leading company in platelet function testing, the fastest-growing field in the coagulation diagnostics market.

Colin Brown, head of Roche Professional Diagnostics, said: "Improving the assessment of a patient's platelet function status is currently a significant unmet need for haematologists, cardiologists and anaesthetists in order to support clinical decisions in cardiology, surgery and intensive care.

"With this acquisition we gain an innovative and unique platelet function testing solution which has the potential to set new standards of patient care in this area and perfectly complements our new coagulation portfolio."

Roche will pay €11m in cash for Verum Diagnostica, with a further €2m earmarked if certain performance-related milestones are reached.

The deal is expected to close in January, at which point Verum Diagnostica will become part of Roche's Professional Diagnostics business area.

Roche said the addition of Verum's platelet function testing technology would complement the line of coagulation analysers it plans to introduce in the US and Canada in 2014.

Aimed at the hospital and reference laboratory market these analysers will, subject to regulatory approval, allow Roche to expand its coagulation testing product line in North America beyond physician offices and outpatient clinics.

Laboratory coagulation is estimated to be the fifth-largest market in professional diagnostics worldwide. Last year it was worth around $1.3bn USD and it's expected to see annual growth of 5.1% over the next five years.