Roche acquires PVT, beefs up lab automation in clinical diagnostics

BASEL, Switzerland — Roche announced this week the acquisition of PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH based in Waiblingen, Germany and of PVT Lab Systems, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

PVT is a global market leader in providing customized automation and workflow solutions for in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) testing in large commercial and hospital laboratories.

Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay PVT shareholders an upfront payment of EUR 65 million as well as up to EUR 20 million upon reaching performance-related milestones.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. PVT will become one of the competence centers inside Roche for the development and manufacturing of automation products.

The acquisition will expand Roche’s global access to PVT’s product portfolio for automation of pre- and post-analytical tasks such as centrifuging, pipetting, sorting and archiving across a large variety of sample formats.

Through optimized work processes, improved turnaround time as well as increased quality and security of sample handling, PVT’s products enable clinical laboratories to reliably manage low to very high sample volumes and to arrange their lab space with great flexibility.

“Increasing laboratory consolidation leading to testing volumes of tens of thousands samples per day demand an ever-higher degree of automation,” said Daniel O’Day, COO of Roche Diagnostics.

“With PVT’s technology we will be able to deliver integrated and highly efficient automation solutions to meet the evolving needs of our customers and further strengthen our leading position in the clinical diagnostics market,” O’Day added.

The newly acquired automation capabilities will strengthen Roche’s growth and competitive advantage in the laboratory core business, which had an estimated market size of $15.3 billion in 2009.

By combining its integrated, modular and highly efficient analyzers, like the cobas 6000 analyzer for medium-sized labs or the cobas 8000 analyzer for large-volume labs, either with the Modular Pre-Analytics (MPA) systems or with PVT’s front- and back-end automation solutions, Roche is able to customize its offer for all different types and sizes of clinical laboratories.

PVT and Roche have had a close partnership for over 15 years, under which Roche has been distributing PVT products, such as the RSA Pro and the RSD Pro system, in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

“Our trusted and long-term collaboration has been key in our growing success,” said Michael Ziegler, CEO and co-founder of PVT. “Roche is the ideal company to deliver the next generation of laboratory automation systems. We’re very committed to the continued success and support of PVT’s employees, products and pipeline.”

“We will further develop customized automation solutions that complement and enhance our entire laboratory analytics instrument portfolio, which we expect will boost sales across our entire core business,” said Colin Brown, head of Roche Professional Diagnostics.