Boston Scientific, a medical technology company, agreed to acquire Preventice Solutions, the developer of wearable patches that monitor cardiac arrhythmias remotely, for $925 million, with as much as $300 million in potential commercial milestones on the table as well.
Preventice Solutions is backed by more than $137 million in funding. The company’s backers include Vivo Capital, Novo Holdings A/S, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Boston Scientific, and Samsung Catalyst Fund.
Preventice Solutions reported net sales of $158 million in 2020 – a 30% growth rate from the previous year. Boston Scientific has been an investor in Preventice since 2015 and currently holds an equity stake of approximately 22% in the company, which is expected to result in a net payment of roughly $720 million upon closing and a milestone payment of up to approximately $230 million.
The Preventice product portfolio includes the BodyGuardian family of remote, wearable cardiac monitors for adult and pediatric patients. According to the company, these remote monitoring systems are designed to detect, classify, and interpret variations in heart rhythm data with high beat detection sensitivity and positive predictive value.
“This acquisition will provide Boston Scientific with a foothold in the high-growth ambulatory electrocardiography space, which strongly complements our recent entrance into the implantable cardiac monitor market and will serve as an important component of our category leadership strategy in cardiac diagnostics and services – a nearly $2 billion market anticipated to grow double digits annually,” said Scott Olson, senior vice president, and president, Rhythm Management, Boston Scientific.
A total of 184 digital health companies were acquired in 2020, compared to 169 in 2019, a 9% increase in M&A activity in year-over-year, according to Mercom’s Q4 and 2020 Digital Health Funding and M&A Report.
More recently, Philips, a healthcare technology company, signed an agreement to acquire Capsule Technologies for $635 million from Francisco Partners.
